Good morning traders!

In Asia markets are largely negative. The Hang Seng Index ended the morning down 17.87 points at 15,100.63 while the Nikkei was recently 103.77 points lower at 11,878.03.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery, was at $60.86 per barrel, unchanged from its closing level in the US last night.

Back in a mo with UK news......

Happy trading!

G.

Michael Page cut to 'neutral' from 'buy' at UBS on valuation

AIB upgraded to 'add' vs 'hold' at ABN Amro

Morning all.

FX UK at a glance share guide - 2

MARKETS
FTSE 100 5,332.3, up 4.8
FTSE 250 7,675.40, up 38.80
DJIA 10,697.59, up 13.85
Nasdaq Comp 2,216.81, down 1.34
S&P 500 1,245.04, up 0.92
Tokyo: Nikkei 225 at midday 11,858.85, down 122.95
Hang Seng at midday 15,100.63, down 17.87 (midday)
Gold 436.10 usd (432.65)
Oil - Brent Sept 59.65 usd (60.62)

BREAKING NEWS
* The failure of CNOOC's bid for Unocal has revived speculation that the company might set its sights on Australia's Woodside Petroleum or Santos - The FT
* DEUTSCHE BOERSE has told the UK Competition Commission that it still might bid for the London Stock Exchange - The FT
* HBOS is pressing the government to force local authorities to provide banks with details of council tax arrears in a drive to improve credit scoring - The Times
* One of the City's top bond salesman is suing UBS for 5 mln stg that he claims he is owed in unpaid bonuses - The Times
* Delays at ROYAL DUTCH SHELL's Sakhalin Energy project in Eastern Siberia could cost the company as much as 500 mln usd in deferred oil revenues next year - The Times
* Scientists at ACAMBIS are within months of starting tests on a breakthrough jab that could eradicate the threat of a pandemic influenza outbreak and offer lifetime protection against any strain of the virus - The Times
* ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND is thought to be finalising the purchase of a 10 pct stake in Bank of China for around 1.4 bln stg - The Daily Mail

PRESS COMMENT
FT
THE LEX COLUMN comments on HBOS (Slower growth means HBOS is throwing off more capital, allowing it to hand back more. For investors the combination is appealing), ADIDAS (We do not need to be shoemakers to know if our shoes fit, claimed Hegel. Similarly, one does not need to be a German idealist to find something to like in Adidas's latest purchase), BSKYB (The suspicion remains that it will not prove possible to meet both long term subscriber growth and margin expansion targets), CREDIT SUISSE (With momentum starting to build and the shares on less than 10 times next year's earnings, the future for CS shareholders should be rosier)

Express
Market Report: WYEVALE (talk of tie-up with DIY chain Homebase), FIREONE GROUP (hopes of strong interims next week), SHARE WHISPER: ADDLEISURE (speculation that it was close to announcing a deal), WHO'S DEALING: COOKSON GROUP (Director Michael Butterworth acquired 6,000 shares at 339-3/4)

Mail
Market Report: AEGIS (around 7.5 pct of the world's leading independent media buyer's share capital has changed hands in the past couple of days), PENDRAGON (Industry gossip that the underlying profits performance of the group has been poor)

Times
TEMPUS: BSKYB (Hold), MARCONI (until there is firm confirmation of an upturn in prospects, investors would do best to avoid), ARK THERAPEUTICS (Buy) -- Rumour of the Day: MANGANESE BRONZE (rumours that the group has attracted the attention of a mystery stake-builder)

Telegraph
QUESTOR: HBOS (may be wise to take some profits with the shares at the current level), ENODIS (take profits), HANSON (still cautious on the stock. Hold)

Guardian
Market Report: AEGIS (talk of bid from HAVAS or Omnicom), O2 (continued bid speculation), SCOTTISH POWER (bid talk), VIRGIN MOBILE (talk that the firm is being dressed up for a sale),

Independent
Market Report: AEGIS (talk that Havas is preparing a 150 pence per share bid), SOMERFIELD (talk that formal offer from Apax may be on the way), ASIA ENERGY (talk of bullish presentation to analysts) -- THE INVESTMENT COLUMN: HANSON (hold), AIB (hold), RIO TINTO (still offer compelling value)

Greystone
Closed the unilever position after morning spike and managed a profit. It may have been a bit early to take but my target was reached and the news dull Thanks for the tip.

Frodo

frodo - A profit is a profit. Chasing the extra point is often very expensive. Well done!

G.

Morning All.

BoE REPO rate cut to 4.5%

Shame the banks and building societies couldn't wait for the actual
decision before lowering their savings rates but never mind......

Good afternoon all

the nice new expensive computer program has stopped working and the support aren't being helpful.

Sorry to hear that Little Woman, go give 'em a shake and tell 'em
to behave!
;>)