The market is up 42. The SFE Futures were up 40 this morning.

Wall Street closed up 102 on Friday. It was a good week for the US market. The Dow put on 3.24% and the S&P 500 3.55%. Europe released the results of the “stress test”. Only 7 small unlisted banks failed but the whole process was criticized for not being strict enough. In economic news, the UK economy grew at its fastest pace in four years. Metals were up. The oil price was up 32c to $78.98 and Gold fell $7.80 to $1187.80. The Aussie dollar improved to 89.63c from 89.33c.

In other news…

  • QBE Insurance (QBE) — down 6.23% to 1685c.  They released a market update. Net profit for the 6 months to June 30 will fall by around 40% due to lower investment income than last year. Insurance profit for the half will rise by 7% to US$820m. They also expect gross written premiums to grow 20% to $US6.9bn and an insurance profit margin of 15.7%. The interim dividend is expected to remain at 62c.
  • Wesfarmers (WES) — 4th Q Sales Numbers – The numbers look positive. Share price up 3.2% to 3009c. 4th Q Coles sales were up 5.5% to $7.45bn. MD Richard Goyder said over the last year, the company has transformed the retail business and reinforced their sound business platform.
  • ROC Oil (ROC) has released their 2nd production numbers. Production averaged 8,207 barrels of oil equivalent a day, down 5% on the previous quarter. Total production came in at 746,812boe, down 4% on 1st Q. 2nd Q Total sales up 3% to $US50.8m. ROC up 1c to 35c.
  • Seek (SEK) has upped their total debt facility to $250m with an extended 3-year term maturity in July 2013, to take advantage of expansion opportunities. SEK up 3% to 759c.
  • Transfield Services (TSE) has won 2 contracts estimated to be worth around $US130m a year. They will deliver exterior facilities maintenance services to over 4,000 Wal-Mart stores across the US. TSE down 2c to 330c.
  • Super Cheap Auto Group (SUL) released a 2009/10 profit forecast after the close of market on Friday. They expect to release a net profit of $38m, up 18% on last year’s $32.1m. SUL up 6c to 547c.
  • Australian producer prices increased 0.3% in the 2nd Q from the 1st Q and up 1% from last year. Economists expected a 0.8% rise. The all important inflation figures are due on Wednesday.
  • Stock hitting fresh yearly highs today include: Adelaide Brighton (ABC), Equinox (EQN), Fleetwood (FWD), Sandfire Resources (SFR) and Lynas Corp (LYC). QBE has hit a 16 month low on the back of their earnings update.

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