Overview: the strengthening US dollar shattered the commodity prices, sending oil and metals down to subdue the early rally on Wall Street and drag down other stock markets. The FTSE 100 mirrored losses in the US where the Dow Jones industrial average ended the day more than 1% below the opening level. The FTSE 100 shed 50 points to post a 1% decline after the mining and oil & gas sectors rapidly moved down, along with bailed out banks Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) and Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS), which plummeted 5-7% after Dutch rival ING opted for a demerger, selling its insurance assets and focus on its banking business in Europe. The Footsie is set to open about 13 points higher today, having fully absorbed the blow delivered by the fall in commodity prices, which have modestly recovered overnight. December Brent Crude was still around US$77.50/barrel, while US light, sweet crude for December delivery added about 30 cents, rising to US$79/barrel. Metal prices also recouped some of yesterday’s losses. Gold returned to US$1,042/oz, while Silver managed to recapture the $17 mark, rising to US$17.11/oz. Platinum added about $2, rising to US$1,333/oz. Base metals followed the trend. Copper slipped to US$2.96/pound, while Nickel and Zinc declined to US$8.43/pound and US$1.03/pound respectively. Asian markets also tumbled. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was 1.5% lower at midday, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 2.5%. Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.5%, which was its worst performance in three weeks. Meanwhile, BP (LSE: BP) released its quarterly results this morning to continue the corporate reporting season. The London-based supermajor expectedly posted a decline in profits, which, however, turned out to be better than expected at US$4.98 billion, which was well ahead of the US$3.14 billion profit posted in Q2. Morning news wrap It was quiet in the morning as no FTSE 100 constituent released any notable updates. In the FTSE 250, Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP) reported an attributable production of 96,500 oz of platinum for the first quarter and posted a US$18.6 million profit. Chip designer ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM) reported an 8% year on year slide in revenues for the quarter to US$123 million, while earnings per share were down to 1.34 pence form 1.38 pence a year ago. Yellow pages publisher Yell Group (LSE: YELL) has extended the deadline for its lenders to respond to its refinancing proposals to 5 PM on Wednesday. Paper and packaging manufacturer Mondi Group (LSE: MNDI) said its underlying operating profit declined quarter on quarter in Q3, which was in line with expectations. In the AIM, Africa focused gold deposit developer Cluff Gold (AIM: CLF) said its operations at the Angovia Gold mine have reached the required standard at which successful commissioning has been achieved. Tottenham Hotspur (LSE: TTNM) has submitted the Northumberland Development Project planning application to the London Borough of Haringey.

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