The market is down just 44 — we were down 146 at one stage. The SFE Futures were down 173 this morning.

Wall Street closed down 348. The Dow was up 12 at best and down 998 at worst thanks to a trading glitch in Proctor & Gamble trading that sent the stock down 37% in 90 seconds. It was the biggest points fall since the 1987 crash. The Dow closed down 3.2%. Prior to the trading error it was down 160. Oil fell $2.84 to $76.72 and Gold was the only shining light — up $22.30 at $1197. The Aussie dollar fell to below 90c — now at 88.65c from 90.68c.

The TED spread is rising again. Remember that from the financial crisis? Concerns about a Greek inspired tightening in credit markets.

In the news today…

  • Bounce off lows — The market is holding onto 4500 on the ASX 200, now exactly 4529. 4500 is seen as the bottom of the 8 month trading range and as “support”. A drop below there would suggest a more significant correction with 4062 being the next support level. We hit 4427 at our low today.
  • Resources outperforming having fallen over twice as far as the industrials from the top of the market. Sector down just 0.2% today. Both BHP and RIO both up on the day as we write. Financials continue to struggle — sector down 2.4%.
  • The RBA has released their Statement on Monetary Policy — they have revised up their forecasts for inflation and economic growth.  GDP forecast up from 3.5% next year to 3.75%.
  • Thai coal miner, Banpu has acquired a 14.9% stake in Centennial Coal (CEY) at $5 a share. CEY closed up 18% yesterday after rising as much as 25%. Banpu call it a “long term strategic stake”. There is talk that they may raise that stake to 19.9% as soon as they receive approval from the FIRB. CEY down 20c to 451c.
  • WorleyParsons (WOR) confirmed their FY guidance and said they were encouraged by increasing activity among their customers. They said net profit for the 2010 financial year was likely to come in between $280m to $320m. WOR down 3.6% to 2453c.
  • Rio Tinto (RIO) announced they will restart their iron ore expansion program in Canada that they shelved in 2008. RIO down 8c to 6563c.
  • Equinox (EQN) down 5c to 392c on Qly results.
  • Myer (MYR) has reiterated their outlook for 10% EBIT margin by 2015 and said yesterday they were confident in reaching their FY profit targets. MYR down 9c to 307c.
  • Stocks hitting a new 52 week low include:  Alesco Corp (ALS), Bannerman Resources (BMN), Infigen Energy (IFN), Myer Holdings (MYR), Nufarm (NUF) and Toro Energy (TOE).

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