In Asia this morning, the Nikkei has just closed up 239.24 points at 16,363.59, while the Hang Seng ended the morning up 124.53 points at 15,694.44.
Oil firmed with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, up 11 cents at $63.48 a barrel from its close of $63.37 in the US.
Early broker notes:
NORTHERN FOODS UPGRADED TO 'OUTPERFORM' VS 'UNDERPERFORM' AT GOLDMAN SACHS
WS ATKINS INITIATED 'ADD' AT DKW; PRICE TARGET 805P
LLOYDS TSB UPGRADED TO 'BUY' VS 'HOLD' AT DEUTSCHE BANK
ITV CUT TO 'UNDERWEIGHT' FROM 'EQUAL-WEIGHT' AT MORGAN STANLEY
Does anyone know why the brokers don't use plain english - it took about 10 min to figure out : NORTHERN FOODS UPGRADED TO 'OUTPERFORM' VS 'UNDERPERFORM' AT GOLDMAN SACHS