NIKKEI	AUSTRALIA	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Hang Seng ended the morning down 33.97 points at 19,322.93,
while the Tokyo markets are closed for the day.

New York Mercantile Exchange's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for
delivery in May, was up 31 cents at $59.56 a barrel. The April contract expired at
the close of trading in the US overnight.

Happy Budget Day trading!

G.

BUDGET OUTLOOK UK North Sea cos call for urgent measures to tackle cost issueOUTLOOK Smiths H1 profit to rise 2 pct, with medical ops constraining growthBUDGET OUTLOOK Cider in focus as beer and wine makers step up duty freeze callBUDGET OUTLOOK New tax measure may lure online gaming firms back to UKOUTLOOK Metro FY net seen up 78.6 pct on Wal-Mart, Geant store purchasesOUTLOOK Kesa Electricals FY pretax seen up 17 pctAustralian shares close lower on caution ahead of Fed decision - UPDATEAsian markets summary

CBRY upgraded to overweight from equal-weight - target 725 from 550 - Lehman Brothers
CW. overweight - target 190 from 175 - Morgan Stanley
NG. initiated neutral - target 720 - Credit Suisse
SAB overweight - target 1215 - JP Morgan

Barclays, ABN Amro ratings unchanged on potential merger talks - Fitch
Rexam's 'Baa3' rating, stable outlook affirmed by Moody's

CBRY buy - target 685 from 625 - Citigroup
HOME reiterated neutral - target 440 - Deutsche Bank
MRW reiterated sell - target 250 - Panmure Gordon

BSY reiterated buy - target 640 - Morgan Stanley
BT.A reiterated sell - target 270 - ING
WLW reiterated sell - target 30 - Dresdner Kleinwort
WOS upgraded to buy from hold - Charles Stanley

AGA reiterated underperform - target 350 - Credit Suisse
LMI initiated neutral - target 3400 - Exane BNP-Paribas

STOCKWATCH Cadbury Schweppes upgraded to 'overweight' at Lehman Brothers

AFX UK at a glance share guideLondon shares outlook - seen flat ahead of BoE's minutes: Budget Report in focus

STOCKWATCH National Grid assumed with 'neutral' rating at Credit Suisse

EUROPEAN BANKING SECTOR UPGRADED TO 'OVERWEIGHT' VS 'NEUTRAL' AT GOLDMAN SACHS

STOCKWATCH European oil sector upgraded to 'overweight' from 'neutral' by HSBC

Morning all.

STOCKWATCH Kesa seen lower as muted outlook offsets in-line full-year resultsUK smallcap opening - Inter Link Foods hit by FY losses warning

UK smallcap opening - Media Square adrift on current year earnings caution

London shares open firmer ahead of BoE's minutes; Budget Report in focus

UK smallcap opening - Stanelco eases after 14-mth losses

STOCKWATCH Smiths Group flat, H1 at top end of forecasts despite impact of US$

Yestreday's "UPS" BFC is doing well again today
Plenty of interest from the start 1 M volume so far

STOCKWATCH Hammerson gains on talk of GE bid; REIT hopes lift sectorUK smallcap opening - Caledon Resources better as Cook production gets underway