Good morning traders!

In the US last night, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 155.88 points to
8,418.77, the S&P500 fell 19.97 points to 909.26, while the Nasdaq Composite
slipped 7.76 points to 1,731.24.

In Asia today, the Nikkei was up 96.27 points at 9,355.71, while the Hang Seng
reached the midpoint down 148.88 points at 16,939.07.

Crude oil traded at $58.24 a barrel on Nymex.

Happy trading!

G.

Morning all. Market reports:

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

Watchdog points to 'tentative' signs of a slower pace of decline in the UK, Italy, France and China, even though the world economy as a whole remains in deep recession.
Britain may be over worst of recession, OECD predicts

More tentative signs of economic recovery are expected on Monday when estate agents report that inquiries from new home buyers hit a ten-year high in April and high street sales shot up.
Positive signs from high street and housing market

The United States risks a Japan-style lost decade of growth if it does not take aggressive action to stimulate its economy and clean up its banking system, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said on Monday.
Krugman fears lost decade for US due to half-steps

The credit strategists at BNP Paribas believe the recent rally in the credit default swap market - particularly among riskier credits - may have gone too far, according to a comment issued on Monday.
Has the CDS rally gone too far?

Legendary investor George Soros has called the end of the global economic collapse, predicting a recovery before a period of stagnation.
Soros: We averted a financial collapse

NIKKEI 225	AUSTRALIA ASX200	SHANGHAI	HANG SENG

KOSPI	VIX	GOLD	NYMEX CRUDE

BARC Credit Suisse[HB]: downgraded to neutral from outperform, tp raised to 285 from 170
BLT Citigroup: hold, tp raised to A$36 from A$28.90
CTH Goldman: upgraded to buy from neutral
GFS Deutsche: upgraded to buy from hold
HSBA UBS: tp raised to 625 from 530
JMAT JPMorgan: downgraded to underweight, tp raised to 1000 from 850
LLOY Credit Suisse: reiterated underperform, tp raised to 65 from 45
RBS Credit Suisse: downgraded to underperform, tp raised to 30 from 25
RIO Citigroup: buy, tp raised to A$81 from A$65
VCT Citigroup: upgraded to hold from sell, tp raised to 525 from 400

End-of-day Market Overview