Hello traders!

US stocks traded at three-week lows tongiht on fears of an economic slowdown driven by the potential for further devastation from Hurricane Rita and the prospect of higher interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 81 points to 10,402, its lowest level since August 31st. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 18 points to 2,113, also a three-week low. The S&P500 was down 8 points at 1,212.91.

Crude for November delivery was last up 40 cents at $66.20 a barrel, after trading as high as $68.27.

See you in the morning with updates....

G.

Good morning traders!

The US markets continued to fall up top the close last night with the Dow eventually 103.49 points lower at 10,378.03, the Nasdaq 26.69 points down at 2,106.64 and the S&P off 11.14 points at 1,210.20.

In Asia this morning, the Hang Seng Index ended the morning down 29.61 points at 15,194.01 with the Nikkei last down 40.28 points at 13,156.29.

Oil eased a little in late trading but was still at $67.47 a barrel, off an earlier intra-day high of $67.78, well above the New York close yesterday of $66.80.

Early UK broker notes:-

SHIRE PHARMA INITIATED 'OVERWEIGHT' AT HSBC; PRICE TARGET 890P

WILLIAM HILL CUT TO 'NEUTRAL' VS 'BUY' AT UBS

Sainsbury, Morrison rated 'sell' by Merrill, Tesco rated 'buy'

Happy trading!

G.

End of day market summary