Markets afternoon briefing

View an online version of this email here.  All times are London time: Wednesday Feb 04 2009 FT.com - Financial Markets News Fitch cuts Russia's credit rating Feb 04 2009 12:16 Russia's credit rating has been downgraded after Fitch, the ratings agency, took fright over its haemorrhaging currency reserves and sharp drop in oil prices Read more » Kazakhstan devalues currency Feb 04 2009 13:48 Kazakhstan allowed its currency, the tenge, to drop by almost one-fifth in a move it blamed on falling world oil prices and the sharp depreciation of the Russian rouble Read more » Dollar and yen gain on safe-haven buying Feb 04 2009 11:47 The dollar and the yen regained ground on Wednesday, as a brief burst of risk-taking seen overnight petered out and traders braced themselves for a fresh round of economic data due from the US and Europe. Read more » European drugmakers hit by Roche warning Feb 04 2009 14:29 There were sharp losses for Swiss drugmaker Roche, after its annual profit missed forecasts and it warned of further earnings pressure ahead in part due to the strength of the Swiss Franc. Read more » Oil rises ahead of US inventories data Feb 04 2009 11:17 Oil prices, ahead of the latest US weekly inventories data, while gold traded in a narrow range arround the $900 a troy ounce level and base metals staged a broad advance Read more » Aviva leads London shares higher Feb 04 2009 15:03 London equities rose on Tuesday, helped by well-received annual sales numbers from Aviva and miners rose for a second day after an update from ENRC Read more » Asian shares led higher by automakers Feb 04 2009 09:45 Asia's carmakers led a rally across the region's stock markets as figures showed they outsold their American rivals in January while signs that China's stimulus package may be starting to work provided gave another fillip to shares Read more » ABOUT THIS EMAIL You have received this email because you have signed up for this briefing on FT.com Manage subscriptions | Unsubscribe | Change your email address Change whether you receive this email as HTML or plain text | Forward this email to a friend Privacy policy | Advertise | Contact © Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2009. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. The Financial Times Limited, registered in England and Wales number 227590. Registered office: Number One Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HL. VAT number GB 278 5371 21.