MARKETS
FTSE 100 4,919.0 down 3.5
FTSE 250 7,120.2 down 23.8
DJIA 10,405.70 down 79.90
Nasdaq Comp 1,973.88 down 18.64
S&P 500 1,165.35 down 8.95
Tokyo: Nikkei (midday) 11,557.05 down 42.77
Hang Seng midday 13,421.35, up 9.47
Gold 426.55 usd (425.55 usd)
Oil - Brent May 53.03 usd (53.93 usd)

BREAKING NEWS
* ENEL, Italy's largest utility, will today consider fully-financed bids for its Wind telecommunications business worth about 12 bln eur in what would be one of the world's biggest leveraged buy-outs - The FT
* A successful bidder for Somerfield could gain control of more than 1 bln stg of property assets - The FT
* Tilney, the asset management group with 5 bln stg under management, will today be sold by Refco, the world's largest private futures broker, to Bridgepoint - The FT
* Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor, has sought to distance himself from a transaction between General Re, a company that he controls, and AIG, a rival insurer - The Times
* A dispute has broken out between leading players in the radio industry and the media regulator Ofcom over the future development of digital radio - The Independent
* A subsidiary of BAT has been fined 250,000 usd by a US judge for "reckless misconduct and bad faith" over its attempts to keep an internal document secret - The Independent

PRESS COMMENT
FT
THE LEX COLUMN comments on Tate & Lyle, Philips, Morgan Stanley and ISS
Times
RUMOUR OF THE DAY: Shares of EUROPEAN GOLDFIELDS, the gold miner with interests in Greece and Romania, have been on the slide since January, amid mounting pressure for news on its Greek venture - SMALLER STOCK TO WATCH:
The award of two exploration licences to TRIPLE PLAT JUNCTION gave the AIM-listed gold explorer a boost - TEMPUS: RENTOKIL (If a bid for the whole is not forthcoming, a programme of tactical disposals may create value, Buy), TURBO GENSET (Investors have always needed guts to put money in this share. They need all their sense of adventure to stick with it now. The omens are strong enough, just, to watch Turbo roll the dice one more time. Hold), VECTURA (the shares are worth having. Buy)
Independent
THE INVESTMENT COLUMN: TATE & LYLE - (We said buy at 366.5 pence last year, but the stock now trades on 14 times 2006's peak-year earnings. Sell), OTTAKAR'S (Existing shareholders should hold on. New readers should wait for a new chapter), HARVEY NASH (For the company's place in our portfolio it is too late)
Telegraph
QUESTOR: RENTOKIL (One for the brave), BALFOUR BEATTY (Hold on), LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL (For investors prepared to wait, MWB might be worth a punt)
Guardian
MARKET REPORT: BOOTS (vague talk of private equity bid)

BSKYB UPGRADED TO 'EQUAL-WEIGHT' FROM 'UNDERWEIGHT' BY LEHMAN BROTHERS

Morning all

Good morning all.

UK and European brokers' recommendations issued today, as collated by AFX News from a range of market sources.

UBS
Downgrades to Neutral from Buy Lufthansa

DRESDNER KLEINWORT WASSERSTEIN
Upgrades to Buy from Add Bloomsbury -- Upgrades to Buy from Add JD Wetherspoon -- Upgrades to Buy from Hold Regent Inns, Greene King, Wolves & Dudley, Enterprise Inns and Punch Taverns

INVESTEC
Downgrades to Buy from Strong Buy AG Barr

NUMIS
Upgrades to Buy from Hold Bloomsbury, raises target to 380 pence from 334

CAZENOVE
Upgrades to Outperform from In Line Paladin Resources

MORGAN STANLEY
UK Property; cuts targets across sector: Overweight British Land, cuts target to 1080 pence from 1100, Overweight Brixton, cuts target to 380 pence from 400, Overweight Slough Estates, Underweight Liberty International, cuts target to 940 pence from 950, Equalweight Hammerson, cuts target to 870 pence from 880, Equalweight Land Securities, cuts target to 1390 pence from 1400 -- Upgrades to Overweight from Equal-weight Prudential -- Upgrades to Equal-weight from Underweight Friends Provident

GOLDMAN SACHS
Reiterates In Line Lundbeck, cuts estimates -- In Line Schering, ups estimates -- Outperform TeliaSonera, ups estimates

WESTLB
Downgrades to Neutral from Outperform SHS, 2.8 eur target -- Upgrades to Neutral from Underperform HeidelbergCement

CSFB
Reiterates Neutral Swiss Re, raises target to 85 sfr vs 78 -- UK Banks; Downgrades to Underperform from Marketperform Northern Rock, Underperform Alliance & Leicester, Bradford & Bingley, Egg, Lloyds TSB - Outperform Barclays Bank, HBOS and RBOS -- Assumes coverage on Man AG as Underperform

CITIGROUP SMITH BARNEY
Reiterates Hold Old Mutual, raises target to 136p from 135p

LEHMAN BROTHERS
Upgrades to Equal-weight from Underweight BSkyB