The market is down 7. The SFE Futures were down 2 this morning.

Wall Street closed down 22 overnight. The Dow was up 10 at best and down 110 at worst. This was the second day the Dow dropped sharply on the open before recovering. Concerns about debt levels in the Euro zone caused European markets to close slightly lower. S&P put Portugal’s ratings on Credit Watch. Metals were mostly up overnight. Oil price fell $1.63 to $84.10 and Gold put on $19 to $1385. The Aussie dollar fell to 95.93c compared to 96.37c.

Today’s main points… quiet day on the news front.

  • Australia’s GDP increased by a lower-than-expected 0.2% in the previous quarter. Economists on average expected a 0.4% rise. It increased 2.7% from the same period last year.
  • Seek Ltd (SEK) held its AGM yesterday afternoon — told shareholders its employment business had started the 2011 financial year strongly. It is also looking for acquisitions. SEK down 11c to 652c.
  • Crown (CWN) — held its AGM yesterday. Said VIP visitor numbers were lower than expected. Revenue from its Aussie gaming and hotels operations are up on last year. CWN down 5c to 816c.
  • Transfield Services (TSE) has signed $124m worth of new contracts. TSE down 3c to 341c.
  • Spotless Group (SPT) has acquired Event Management Catering, a UK based catering company. The market didn’t like the acquisition with SPT down 5% to 199.5c.
  • Incitec Pivot (IPL) has priced a $US5600m debt issue in the US bond market. IPL up 8c to 382c.
  • Qantas Airways (QAN) released passenger numbers — it is carrying more passengers than a year ago but its revenue seat factor is falling. QAN down 4c to 259c.
  • Australian Infrastructure (AIX) says airport passengers have increased 7.6% in October on the year. AIX down 1.5c to 191c.
  • White Energy (WEC) has made a $500m takeover proposal for Cascade Coal as it takes its first major step in adding a conventional coalmining division. WEC up 7c to 357c.
  • Stocks hitting fresh yearly highs: Linc Energy (LNC), Riversdale Mining (RIV), Summit Resources (SMM).
  • Stocks hitting fresh 52 week lows: Commonwealth Property Trusts (CPA), Henderson Group (HGG), Spotless Group (SPT).

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