Hello traders!

A noisy night in town tonight.... This time nothing to do with fiestas but all down to gigantic hailstones that showered us. Gonna be a few dents in a few cars come morning.... :-(

Back to business....

In the US tonight, stocks ended mixed, as investors juggled with positive manufacturing data and a fresh spike in oil prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 17.76 points to 10,623.15. The Nasdaq Composite rose 10.55 points to 2,195.38 while the S&P500 added 1.17 points at 1,235.35.

Oil for September delivery ended up $1 at $61.57 a barrel after trading as high as $62.30 intraday.

See you in the morning with updates.....

G.

Good morning traders!

In Asia this morning the Hang Seng ended the first part up 146.72 points at 15,125.60 with HSBC the leading light. The Nikkei was recently trading down 18.89 points at 11,928.03.

Oil has eased a fraction in Asian trade but is still sitting at $61.50 a barrel.

In other news...........

BHP Billiton has confirmed it now owns 100% of WMC Resources.

HSBC has been downgraded by Deutsche Bank and upgraded by ABN Amro - both now rate it a hold.

Ryanair reports Q1 revenue ahead 35% but gives a cautious outlook for the rest of the year.

Happy trading!

G.

Good morning all.