Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Nikkei was down 119.44 points at 10,268.65, while the Hang
Seng ended the morning session off 333.78 points at 20,565.46.

Crude oil traded at $71.53 a barrel on Nymex.

Happy Friday!

G.

Morning all. Market reports:

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

Many countries have suffered their worst GDP declines in generations. Consumer prices are still falling in the US, Japan, the eurozone and China. But stock prices are once again hitting crisis highs, the oil price has almost doubled, distressed debt is selling at 90pc of face value and credit spreads are steadily narrowing. This financial mini-boom cohabits oddly with deflation.
Excess liquidity thesis gains traction as financial markets soar

Karen Weaver, Deutsche Banks formidable global head of securitisation research, warned in a report on Wednesday that the percentage of US mortgage-holders facing negative equity would nearly double by 2011.
Deutsche Bank on those drowning US homeowners

The war on high frequency trading continues apace - and already there have been some high-profile casualties, or at the very least, capitulations. Both Nasdaq and BATS said on Thursday they will stop offering flash trading - mere months after they initiated the service on June 3.
Nasdaq and BATS to stop offering flash trading

Assets invested globally in exchange traded funds have reached a record high of $862bn amid partial recovery in equities and continuing strong demand for passive investment.
Investor demand fuels ETF rebound

NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

KOSPI	VIX	GOLD	NYMEX CRUDE

SENSEX

BLT Merrill: reiterated neutral
BVS Goldman: downgraded to neutral from buy
BWY Citigroup: upgraded to buy from hold
ITV Citigroup: reiterated buy, tp raised to 55 from 47
ITV Credit Suisse: reiterated neutral, tp raised to 40 from 25
ITV Goldman: reiterated buy, tp raised to 50 from 48
LAD Credit Suisse: reiterated neutral, tp cut to 194 from 197
LAD Goldman: upgraded to neutral from sell, tp reiterated 195
NWR Credit Suisse: downgraded to underperform from neutral
PSON ING: downgraded to hold from buy, tp 760
RBS Shore: reiterated hold
RIO Merrill: reiterated buy
RMG Credit Suisse: downgraded to neutral from outperform
RR. Goldman: downgraded to sell from neutral, tp raised to 420 from 390
SL. Morgan Stanley: reiterated underweight, tp cut to 211 from 226
SPD Pali: reiterated sell
XTA Citigroup: reiterated buy, tp raised to 1000 from 850

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End-of-day Market Overview

Have a good weekend all!

Thanks Kyoto for the great input every day... :)