Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Nikkei was recently down 0.4% to 13,157.71. The Hong Kong
markets are closed for Chinese New Year.

Crude oil futures were up 57 cents to $88.68 a barrel in electronic trading, adding
to gains on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday which saw the contract
climb 97 cents to $88.11 a barrel.

Happy Friday!

G.

Morning all. Market reports:

Telegraph
The Times
The Times (Need to know)
FT
The Independent
The Guardian
This is Money

Share prices dived in London after traders dismissed the Bank of England's quarter percentage point interest rate cut as "too little, too late".
Share prices dive despite BoE's rate cut

The Bank of England has cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point today in an attempt to head of a slowdown in the economy. Here are some initial reactions from the City.
Interest rates cut by 0.25pc: City reaction

The European Central Bank has ditched its bias towards interest rate rises, preparing to join the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England in easing monetary policy to head off a sharp downturn.
ECB may follow Fed and BoE in rate cut

A string of profit warnings from safe-haven British companies sparked fears yesterday that the deadly tentacles of the sub-prime crisis were starting to spread.
Tentacles of sub-prime crisis tighten on UK firms

Banks and building societies came under pressure last night to do more to pass on the Bank of Englands quarter-point cut in intere

NIKKEI	AUSTRALIA

The Hang Seng and Shanghai markets are closed for Chinese New Year.

The Friday Press Roundup

BROKERWATCH Shire downgraded to 'underweight' from 'equal-weight' at LehmanBROKERWATCH BT Group cut to 'equal-weight' vs 'overweight' at Lehman after Q3

BROKERWATCH BT Group upped to 'buy' vs 'neutral' by Nomura; target cut to 300pBROKERWATCH Sage cut to 'sell' from 'underperform' by Seymour PierceSTOCKWATCH Compass higher after strong update; Merrill Lynch retains 'buy'BROKERWATCH Heineken upgraded to 'buy' from 'neutral' at Merrill LynchBROKERWATCH BG Group raised to 'buy' at UBS, tgt upped to 1,340p after good Q4*ANGLO AMERICAN SAYS DE BEERS GROUP CONFIDENT OF OUTLOOK BEYOND 2008*ANGLO AMERICAN SEES 2008 OUTLOOK HIT BY WORLD MARKET UNCERTAINTY

STOCKWATCH GlaxoSmithKline lower after yesterday's results; Deutsche Bank cutsUK small caps open higher; Victoria Oil up on Noor Petroleum stakeLondon shares open up after recent falls, NY gain; Compass up on Q1 UPDATE

From the British Bulls last night ........

BUY CONFIRMED
PHTM 23.500 +0.5000 +2.17%

Candlestick Analysis
Todays Candlestick Patterns:
White Spinning Top
Reversal/Continuation

Today a White Spinning Top was formed. This represents complete indecision between the bulls and the bears.

Patience pays off. The market wavered a bit but finally confirmed the recent bullish formation. The dose of the previous day was not enough for a BUY-IF confirmation but today it is. The market opened with a gap up and the days activity resulted in a close higher than the open. This is a valid confirmation criterion. The market is now ready for a bullish move.

STOCKWATCH Kingfisher, DSG lower; UBS establishes 'short-term sell'

STOCKWATCH Compass gains on 'strong' Q1; Merrill Lynch, Investec 'buy' UPDATE

STOCKWATCH Sodexho shares up on Compass trading update, Accor business sale

Metals - Platinum steadies after creeping close to record, gold up strongly

STOCKWATCH GlaxoSmithKline down, yesterday's results; SG Securities cuts UPDATE

London shares - mid-morning featuresMetals - Copper rises to 3 month high amid ongoing stock declines

Metals - Platinum steadies after creeping close to record, gold up UPDATE

OUTLOOK New CEO of Smiths Group to outline strategy in trading updateMetals - Copper rises to 3 month high amid ongoing stock declines UPDATE

CORRECTION OUTLOOK New CEO of Smiths Group to outline strategy in trading update

STOCKWATCH GlaxoSmithKline down; Dresdner Kleinwort to 'reduce' vs 'add' UPDATE*GLAXOSMITHKLINE CUT TO 'AA-' ON 2008 EARNINGS OUTLOOK; OUTLOOK NEGATIVE - FITCH

OUTLOOK British Energy 9 mth EBITDA seen down, eyes on possible nuclear partnersSTOCKWATCH Drax Group touch higher; Evolution initiates with 'add', 562p target

WALL STREET OUTLOOK Lower open seen ahead of Fed official speeches, data