Good morning traders!

In Asia today, the Nikkei was recently ahead 253.31 points at 13,399.44, while the
Hang Seng was up was up 422.83 points at 24,300.65.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, was 2
cents higher at $114.95 per barrel after a record close of $114.93 at the New York
Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.

Happy trading!

G.

OUTLOOK Prudential Q1 sales seen 10 pct higherOUTLOOK Corin sales, pretax seen up, focus on US doctor training programmeOUTLOOK Roche Q1 sales seen impacted by exchange rates, lower Tamiflu salesFOCUS France Telecom, TeliaSonera merger offers eastern promise but flawed logicThomson Financial Europe AM at a glance share guide: Shares rise, dollar mixedTFN economic and business calendar

TFN UK calendar and forecasts for today

The Thursday Press Roundup

BROKERWATCH DSG International upped to 'equal-weight' at Morgan Stanley

London shares outlook - higher, building on Wednesday rally; Prudential Q1 due

BROKERWATCH Rentokil Initial upped to 'buy' at UBS, target raised to 105 pence

BROKERWATCH Experian downgraded to 'sell' from 'hold' at Citigroup, target 350pBROKERWATCH BAE to 'equal-weight'; Rolls-Royce to 'overweight' at Morgan StanleyThomson Financial UK at a glance share guide

Tokyo shares close higher after Wall Street rally

BROKERWATCH Thomson Reuters started at 'outperform' at Credit Suisse

UK smallcap opening - TripleArc moves up afresh on the agreed Office2office bid

UK smallcap opening - Immersion Technologies down on Nakamichi supply breachTokyo shares close higher after Wall Street rally - UPDATE

BROKERWATCH SocGen, others upgraded; Sabadell, others cut in Goldman bank noteBROKERWATCH SABMiller upped to 'buy' vs 'add' at Dresdner Kleinwort

BROKERWATCH Orion upped to 'buy' from 'add' at Dresdner KleinwortUK smallcap opening - Empyrean Energy Sugarloaf updateLondon shares open up after Wall Street rally; Resolution higher on FSA approval

Australian shares close higher as resource stocks extend gains - UPDATE

STOCKWATCH Prudential rises on stronger Q1 sales; Merrill Lynch says 'buy'UK smallcap opening - Styles & Wood up on buy-out plan

STOCKWATCH Thomson Reuters trading at 1,673-1/2 pence; ABN Amro starts as 'sell'UK smallcap opening - Serabi Mining gains on swing to FY profits

UK smallcap opening - i-mate hardens on soothing update

UK smallcap opening - Alphameric adrift on legal costs warningUK smallcap opening - Alphameric adrift on legal costs warning

STOCKWATCH BAE down as Morgan Stanley cuts, Numis ups to 'buy' on weakness