In Asia today, the Nikkei has closed down 303.86 points at 16,124.35, hit by profit-taking, while the Hang Seng ended the morning up 109.64 points at 15,657.07.
Oil weakened overnight with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, off 24 cents to $63.26 a barrel from its close of $63.50 in the US.
Early broker notes:
ULSTER TV UPGRADED TO 'BUY' VS 'ADD' AT DKW
BURBERRY UPGRADED TO 'OVERWEIGHT' VS 'NEUTRAL' AT JP MORGAN
AVIVA UPGRADED TO 'BUY' AT MERRILL LYNCH
PRUDENTIAL CUT TO 'NEUTRAL', ROYAL & SUN CUT TO 'SELL' AT MERRILL LYNCH
PETER HAMBRO INITIATED 'BUY' AT MERRILL LYNCH, PRICE TARGET 1200P