Good start to the week. The market is up 17 the SFE Future were down 2 this morning. There is a Bank Holiday in NSW today … it is a no settlement day on the ASX.

Wall Street closed up 17 on Friday. The Dow was up 64 at best and down 21 at worst. The NASDAQ closed down 0.29%. Both Gold and Oil finished higher. It was a strong session for Bonds — 10 year yield at 3.501% down from 3.641%. Aussie dollar up to 83.47c from 82.53c.

Big week ahead. Reporting season gets going and we have the RBA Meeting tomorrow with a statement and interest rate decision at 2.30pm. Almost no chance of a rate cut or rise. Statement will be interesting after the surprisingly optimistic commentary from Glenn Stevens last week which pretty much confirmed that interest rates have bottomed.

In the news…

  • GrainCorp (GNC) up 6% after announcing a profit upgrade. It now expects a profit of $53-$63m compared to $37m-$42m. They have higher than expected grain receivals and export sales to thank.
  • Computershare (CPU) announces it has spent $US16.2m on transfer agency business of the National City Bank, a subsidiary of PNC Financial Services Group. It may cost them more depending on the amount of revenue generated over the next 12 months.
  • Aquarius Platinum (AQP) up 8.4% after releasing their 4Q production figures which showed 98,258 ounces of platinum group metal produced in the quarter, up 1% from the 3Q.
  • Woolworths (WOW) has announced plans to enter the telecommunications market by offering a no-frills mobile phone services. It has teamed up with Optus.
  • Linc Energy (LNC) has completed a $54.7m institutional share placement and plans to raise another $20 with an underwritten SPP which is scheduled to take place on August 7. LNC down 6c to 149c.
  • Westpac Bank (WBC) said it will reduce both consumer and business exception fees to $9.
  • Argo Investments (ARG) has announced a $64.4m FY loss. Revenue fell 12.7% due to lower interest rates and dividend cuts from companies in which it was invested.

Also in the news…

  • The AIG Manufacturing index increased by a seasonally adjusted 6.1 points in July to 44.5, its highest level since September 2008. It is below 50 which separates expansion from contraction.
  • Job Advertisements fell (-1.7%) for the 15th straight month in July, but the rate of decline slowed from the 6.7% fall registered in June.
  • Minara Resources (MRE), Mincor Resources (MCR), MEO Australia (MEO) and The Reject Shop (TRS) have all hit fresh yearly highs.
  • Sandfire Resources (SFR) up 3.5% to 235c — now up almost 50 times from the 5c it was trading at in March.
  • BANKS UP — GSJB Were become the third broker in a week to lift their recommendation on big four banks. The NAB, WBC and ANZ are all Buys with CBA lifted to Hold from Sell.

The SFE Futures down 10 points.

MARCUS PADLEY is the Author of the MARCUS TODAY Daily Stockmarket Newsletter.

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