The market is down 25. The SFE Futures were down 62 this morning.

Wall Street closed down 159 on Friday. Dow was up 31 at best down 167 at worst. On the weekend the EU agreed a 110bn Euro (US$146bn) rescue package for Greece over the next three years. The US market was closed before the Greek rescue package was announced. Metals did well on the LME, Oil put on 98c to $86.15 and Gold fell $1.19 to $1181. The Aussie dollar fell to 92.29c from 92.77c. Banks up today, Resources down on the Henry Tax Review and the 40% Super Profits tax.

There is an RBA Meeting tomorrow and an interest rate decision at 2.30pm. With the Greek Rescue having settled the nerves the expectation is that the RBA will plug away at returning interest rates to “normal” levels with another 25bp rate rise as they get rates back to 5.0%. Some brokers suggesting they will go beyond that to 6.0% by the middle of next year.

In the news today…

  • The Henry Tax Review has dominated the headlines. The main issue for the stockmarket is the Resources Super Profits Tax. BHP down 2.6% RIO down 3.7%. See below for more.
  • Orica (ORI) — Interim Results and DuluxGroup Demerger — Announced 1H net profit of $55.1m, down 75% from last year’s $220.4m but after $238m of one offs. Net profit before items came in ahead of expectations. ORI up 3.6% to 2756c.
  • Boart Longyear (BLY) — Market Update — BLY have upped their FY revenue guidance by 33% on FY09 and their FY10 EBITDA by $US25m to $US195m. BLY up 4.5% to 34.5c.
  • Macquarie Group (MQG) announced their FY result on Friday. They stock closed up 4% on the day. Results slightly ahead of expectations and guidance. Most brokers this morning have maintained their positive recommendation and believe the stock is cheap of PE terms. MQG down 1.43% to 4957c
  • Elders (ELD) — Completed their Forestry Asset Review – they expect FY10 underlying profit to be impacted by $4.3m after tax. They also reduced their FY10 earnings guidance and forecasts by $4.3m. ELD down 5% to 113.5c.
  • Leighton Holdings (LEI) announced their subsidiary has won a $650m rail construction contract in Victoria. LEI down 42c to 3648c
  • Talk of Stockland (SGP) making an all scrip bid for GPT Group (GPT) again. Southern Cross Equities believes the offer could be at 69c. SGP up 2c to 401c. GPT unchanged at 58.5c.
  • Alesco Corp (ALS) announced the resignation of their CEO Justin Ryan. He will be replaced with Peter Boyd, the current general manager. ALS down 4c to 293c
  • Stocks hitting fresh 52 week highs include: Ansell (ANN), ResMed (RMD)

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