**NYSE closed - Thanks giving holiday** ASIA The Nikkei reversed course to end higher at the close (+0.34%), erasing losses that took it to a fresh 16-month low, as the yen eased against the dollar. (RTRS) US crude futures were steady above $97 overnight, after falling nearly a dollar in the previous session on EIA data showing a big increase in crude stockpiles at a key storage hub (RTRS) At 0625 crude was trading $97.54 up 25c. U.S. Stocks finished sharply lower on Wednesday on continuing credit and economic concerns, while the dollar fell to new record lows against the Euro and the Swiss franc and fell to a 2 year low against the yen. A negative tone for stocks was set during the Asian session after the FOMC lowered the bottom end of its GDP forecast yesterday for 2008 to 1.8% from 2.4%. The Nikkei-225 fell 2.46% to 14,837 and the Hang Seng fell 4.15% to 26,618. The weakness in Asia then carried over to the European and U.S. sessions. The DJ fell 220.53 pts or 1.67% to 12,791. The S&P 500 Index dropped 23.40 pts or 1.63% to 1416.34 and the Nasdaq 100 Index fell 23.56 or 1.16% to 2006.38. In terms of sector performance, financials, mortgage lenders weighed most heavily on the indices after Goldman Sachs downgraded European banks, including HBOS and Societe Generale, and following Freddie Macâs (-2.76% to $26.00) poor Q3 results and outlook yesterday as well as a denial by the countryâs largest mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial (-8.4% to $9.42), that it planned to file for bankruptcy. Adding to the credit jitters was speculation during the European morning session that the Bank of England might have to cut rates because of elevated Libor rates and rumors of an emergency Fed rate cut. One of the few bright spots today in terms of sectors was tech with Googleâs shares rising 1.85% to $660.52 and Research in Motionâs shares climbing 1.1% to $111.02. FTSE BP - As the Texas City blast court case continues, a Houston lawyer has forced the judge to step down from the case and said that he will seek USD 2bln in fines. This is seen as a bitter blow to chief Tony Hayward's hopes of closing the saga. (RTRS/Times) Morrison - Q3 SSS ex-gas was up 3.7% vs Exp. 3.2%, the company said it has made an encouraging start to the 2H but remains cautious on the outlook for consumer spending. (RTRS)** Northern Rock - According to sources, the company is an acquisition target of GMAC. (RTRS)** CAC Arcelor-Mittal - The company has become the first foreign company to take a controlling stake in a Chinese steel concern. Arcelor has roughly a USD 1.7bln stake in China Oriental Group. (FT) Air France - Fiscal Q2 net profit EUR 736mln vs Exp. EUR 447mln, revenues rose 5.8% to EUR 6.489bln. (RTRS)** EUROSTOXX Nokia - The US International Trade Commission said yesterday it will not overrule the decision to terminate the probe into claims that Qualcomm's mobile-phone chips infringe some of Nokia's patents. (RTRS) ENI - An Italian appeals court has confirmed a EUR 370 million anti-trust fine against the company and others, sources said. (RTRS)** Philips - The company's second line share buyback program came reportedly close to a stand still due to its low share price as institutional investors are not offering their shares. According to press reports the company may complete its EUR 1.6bln buyback this year. (S&P) Companies paying dividend today: Enel SpA (0.20000 EUR) SMI Roche - The UK government is set to order hundreds of millions of pounds worth of new drugs and face-masks to fight any possible flu pandemic, according to the FT. BROKER UPGRADES/DOWNGRADES CREDIT AGRICOLE LEHMAN DOWNGRADES TO E/W FROM O/W LAFARGE RAISED TO `OVERWEIGHT' VS `EQUAL WEIGHT' AT M. STANLEY CENTRICA RAISED TO `BUY' VS `HOLD' AT ABN AMRO ENDESA CUT TO `NEUTRAL' VS `OVERWEIGHT' AT JPMORGAN The above commentary was provided by Real-time Analysis & News (R.A.N) Ltd (known to traders as âRansquawkâ) operates from 0630GMT until 2200GMT to incorporate full coverage of the US bond and equity futures markets. Currently R.A.N covers Bond, STIR and Index futures in the US, UK and Eurozone as well as NYMEX crude and Gold. Furthermore, R.A.N has a stand alone Forex service (Ransquawk FX) which covers all the major currency pairs. Coverage is based around the economic calendar for that day but the product finds its value looking at flows, rumours and breaking news and delivers that information to the customer via an internet âsquawk-boxâ. For more information and a 1-week free trial please email us at info@ransquawk.com