Good morning traders!

In the US last night, the Dow fell 8 points to 15,003, the Nasdaq rose 25 points to
3,614 and the S&P500 added 6 points at 1,652.

In Asia today, the Nikkei was recently down 108 points at 13,287 and the Hang Seng
off 245 points at 21,725.

WTI crude oil traded at $104.96 a barrel and Brent crude at $110.15.

Gold settled at $1,373 an ounce.

Good hunting!

G.

Bloomberg Top Headlines

Marketwatch

Global Markets

Asian Markets News

European Factors to Watch-Shares to edge lower on stimulus curb fears

LONDON | Wed Aug 21, 2013 6:28am BST
Aug 21 (Reuters) - European stocks were seen opening flat to lower on Wednesday as investors trim their positions on expectations of an upcoming reduction in U.S. monetary stimulus.

Financial spreadbetters expect Britain's FTSE 100 to open 22 to 23 points lower, or as much as 0.4 percent, Germany's DAX to open 17 points lower, or 0.2 percent, and France's CAC 40 to open 1 to 2 points lower, flat in percentage terms.

Traders will look closely at the minutes of the Federal Reserve's July policy meeting, due to be published at 1800 GMT, for clues as to when and by how much the central bank will cut its monthly asset purchase programme in response to stronger economic growth.

Morning All.. and then there were 3.

I am not a number.

So you think you are a free man!

'The Prisoner' is about a man who is kidnapped from his London home, and wakes up in a strange Village, where he is known only by the name Number Six. Various Village Officers-in-Charge, always referred to as Number Two, set about trying to find out why Number Six resigned his job as a secret agent. Number Six is interrogated, brainwashed, and manipulated by the strange powers behind the mysterious Village. This intriguing series first went to air in 1968. It was ahead of its time then, and continues to intrigue today. It was very much the brain-child of Patrick McGoohan, who not only starred as Number Six, but was also instrumental in bringing the series to fruition.

Nikkei rebounds from 7-week low as emerging market worries recede

Wed Aug 21, 2013 7:34am BST
TOKYO, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average
bounced back from a seven-week low on Wednesday as concerns that
capital outflows from Asia will accelerate as the Federal
Reserve starts tapering its monetary stimulus slightly eased.

In a choppy session, the benchmark Nikkei fell to as
low as 13,250.36 but finished 0.2 percent higher at 13,424.33.

The broader Topix dropped 0.3 percent to 1,121.74 in
light trade.

FTSE100 starts modestly lower, with the miners retreating

GBP Public Sector Net Borrowing -1.6B -3.7B 10.2B

GBP CBI Industrial Order Expectations 0 -8 -12

FTSE100 firmly lower midday after weak UK borrowing data

USD Existing Home Sales 5.39M 5.15M 5.06M

FTSE 100 ends day with solid losses ahead of Fed minutes