Morning all. Market reports:

Telegraph
Telegraph (Bloomberg summary)
The Times
FT
The Guardian
The Independent
This is Money

Alarm bells ring as debt levels soar in frenzy of mergers

NIKKEI	AUSTRALIA	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

OUTLOOK Vedanta Q4 production seen rising vs Q3 on copper, zinc outputSTOCKWATCH - SKorea's LG Philips sharply higher on above-consensus Q1 results

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Hang Seng ended the morning down 34.43 points at 20,313.44,
while the Nikkei was recently up 5.77 points at 17,670.46.

New York Mercantile Exchange's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for
delivery in May, dropped 3 cents to $61.86 a barrel from $61.89 a barrel in late
trading in the US overnight.

Happy trading!

G.

Asian markets summaryAsian economic and corporate news summary

The Wednesday Press Roundup

London shares outlook - touch higher on solid Wall St; FOMC in focus

AZN upgraded to market-perform from underperform - Sanford Bernstein
BGY reiterated sell - target 370 from 350 - Citigroup
BGY reiterated neutral - target 475 - JP Morgan
BXTN downgraded to equal-weight from overweight - target 571 from 617 - Lehman Brothers
EMA reiterated buy - target 900 from 945 - ABN Amro
LARD reiterated buy - target 625 - ABN Amro
RIO reiterated overweight - target 3600 - Lehman Brothers
SGE reiterated buy - target 305 - Deutsche Bank
SGE reiterated overweight - target 300 - JP Morgan
SMG reiterated sell - target 50 - Dresdner Kleinwort
SVT upgraded to equal-weight from underweight - Morgan Stanley
XTA reiterated overweight - target 3300 from 3100 - Lehman Brothers
XTA reiterated buy - target 3500 from 3000 - Credit Suisse

EUROPEAN REAL ESTATE SECTOR CUT TO 'NEUTRAL' FROM 'POSITIVE' BY LEHMAN

STOCKWATCH AstraZeneca upgraded to 'market-perform' by Sanford Bernstein

Australian shares close mixed on late profit taking

Tokyo shares close flat after market digests machinery orders data

STOCKWATCH Northumbrian Water upgraded to 'overweight' at Morgan Stanley, 370p

NTG upgraded to overweight from equal-weight - Morgan Stanley
NWG upgraded to overweight from equal-weight - Morgan Stanley

STOCKWATCH British Energy initiated with a 'buy' at ABN Amro, target 654p

First Day of Dealings

UK smallcap opening - Galleon ticks up on further Pepsico order

STOCKWATCH European real estate sector cut to 'neutral' by Lehman BrothersUK smallcap opening - Pantheon gains on production updateTokyo shares close flat after market digests machinery orders data - UPDATEUK smallcap opening - Planet higher on CREST admissionAustralian shares close mixed on late profit taking - UPDATE

UK smallcap opening - SMC Group perks up on confident FY results statement

STOCKWATCH Reed Elsevier reiterated 'buy' at Collins Stewart, says undervalued

UK smallcap opening - Software Radio up as transceiver gleans US FCC OK