The market is up 37. The SFE Futures were up 19 this morning.

Wall Street closed up 13 overnight. US Bond prices continued to fall with the extension of tax cuts expected to lead to higher budget deficits and a pickup in economic growth. The 10-year Note hit a six-month high of almost 3.33% before it pulled back to 3.26%. The oil price was down 44c at $88.25. Gold had its biggest fall in three weeks — down $25.80. The A$ fell from 98.44c to 97.91c. Talk of the Chinese tightening rates again next week.

Today’s main points…

  • Following a review of its commercial lending portfolio, the Bank of Queensland (BOQ) issued a profit warning for FY 2011. BOQ down 6.63% although the main issue is provisioning against commercial property in Queensland so the rest of the sector (except for Suncorp Metway down 1.85%) is unaffected.
  • The Reject Shop (TRS) has also issued a profit warning. After the last interest rate rise they say they saw a ‘major’ drop in demand and now see profit for the year down 6-10%. Sales “significantly” below expectations.. TRS down 20.8%.
  • BHP CEO Marius Kloppers has been awarded $11m worth of BHP shares as part of his long term incentive plan. BHP up 0.7%.
  • Caltex Australia (CTX) expects its profits to rise 42% to $285m-$295m by the end of Dec thanks to an absence of 2009’s financial crisis-related costs. CTX down 0.99%.
  • Fortescue Metals (FMG) $US800m senior unsecured notes issue looks like they will be rated as speculative by ratings agencies. FMG up 1.08%.
  • Ten Network (TEN) has appointed Brian Long as non-executive chairman to succeed Nick Falloon who will step down as executive chairman. TEN is holdings its AGM today. TEN up 0.67%.
  • Westfield Group (WDC) has reconfirmed its 2010 distribution guidance of 64c and 48c for 2011. The new Westfield Retail Trust (WRT) will pay a distribution of 16.5c for 2011. Expects 2011 earnings to come in at 93c a security. WDC up 2.35%. WRT begins trading on Monday.
  • Woodside Petroleum (WPL) has successfully re-financed its debt facility. It has executed a 5-year $US1.1bn syndicate loan facility with 34 banks and deferred the maturity of it to 2015 from 2012. WPL up 0.59%.
  • Australia‘s jobless rate fell to 5.2% in November, as expected by economists. This is down from 5.4% in October. November’s participation rate was a record high 66.1%, up from 65.9% in October. The A$ has jumped to 98.49c and Seek Ltd (SEK) is up 2.46%.

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