The market is up 5. The SFE Futures were up 28 this morning.

Wall Street closed up 120 overnight. The Dow was up 122 at best. The Dow is up 4.7% in three days. The IMF upped their 2010 GDP forecast from 4.2% to 4.6% for 2010. Weekly Jobless numbers came in better than expected and both the European Central Bank and Bank of England left interest rates on Hold. The oil price was up $1.37 to $75.44, Gold price down $2.90 to $1196 and the Aussie dollar improved to 86.34c from 85.18c.

Main news…

  • Santos (STO) up 7.13% to 1367c on reports that they were on the verge of signing a deal with Royal Dutch Shell that would result in Shell taking a 30%-35% stake worth around $2bn in their Gladstone LNG project. Santos has put out an announcement saying they are in discussions about a possible sale of a stake in the Gladstone LNG project and will make an announcement when necessary.
  • Rio Tinto CEO Tom Albanese told the Melbourne Mining Club last night that China’s economy is more likely to grow at an average rate of 6% rather than 9% saying — “I think 9% is not a sustainable target.” He went on to say that “It’s a law of large numbers” and the IMF expects China’s GDP to grow by 10.5% this year and by 9.6% next year. At least he can’t be accused of talking his own book. RIO up 45c to 6750c.
  • Boral (BLD) successfully completed the institutional component of their 1 for 5 full underwritten entitlement offer yesterday. The placement price was 410c. The price history has been adjusted for the issue. The institutional component raised around $274m with around 92% of existing institutional shareholders electing to take up their entitlement. BLD down 12c to 428c.
  • Ansell (ANN) is aiming for more growth and has established 4 global divisions that will focus on making acquisitions. ANN up 9c to 1273c.
  • Toll Holdings (TOL) announces the acquisition of WT Sea Air Group and Genesis Forwarding Group for $150m with the acquisition expected to generate $250m revenue. They have also sold their 50% interest in Pacorini Toll JV to the Pacorini Group. TOL down 2c to 584c.
  • Exact Resources (EXT) up 3.4% to 697c after announcing that Itochu Corp has decided to buy a 10% stake.
  • David Jones (DJS) has terminated their lease at the proposed Fountain Gate shopping centre in Victoria. DJS down 4c to 447c.
  • Metcash (MTS) Chairman Carlos dos Santos will retire from the board and be replaced by Deputy Chairman Peter Barnes. MTS up 2c to 442c.
  • Stock hitting fresh yearly lows today include: Tap Oil (TAP). Mitchell Communications (MCU) has hit a fresh yearly high.

For a free 5 day obligation free trial of the MARCUS TODAY newsletter (and no we won’t ask for a credit card number) please Click Here – you will receive our renowned and popular Daily email about the stockmarket with all the stuff you need to know ahead of the trading day including overnight developments, news, comments, rumours, broker stuff and Ideas from Marcus and his Team.

You will also be given a password to the MARCUS TODAY website including access to our Recommended Portfolio which is actively managed on behalf of subscribers.…no “set & forget”. Everything you need to effortlessly managed your own long term investment portfolio. It includes an Income Portfolio. And for the traders we monitor short and medium term trades on top of the portfolio.

Members also get access to our Database – all the numbers with comments on the ASX 200 stocks and more. Members also get access to our Educational section which includes an archive of Marcus’s Educational and Entertaining articles. We are sure you will enjoy and profit from what we offer. Thousands of subscribers enjoy and profit from our services every day. We have one of the highest re-subscription rates in the financial newsletter industry.

For your FREE TRIAL — Click here

To Subscribe to MARCUS TODAY — Click Here

We also offer a FREE END OF DAY EMAIL — Click here — A free summary of the day in the market.