The market is up 23. The SFE Futures were up 12 this morning.

Wall Street closed up 40 on Friday. The S&P 500 reached its highest level since the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008. The Nasdaq closed higher for the eighth consecutive day to reach its highest close in three years. The Chinese raised bank reserve requirements another 50bp after higher than expected CPI and PPI numbers with talk they will soon raise rates. The oil price fell 58c and Gold fell $7.90 to $1384.90. The $A was 98.38c, down from 98.46c.

Today’s main points…

  • Fortescue Metals (FMG) has priced $US1.5bn of unsecured notes in two lots with the offering expected to settle on Wednesday. The first tranche of $US600m was issued at 6.375% pa for 5 years; the secend of $US900m was issued at 6.875% for 7 years. FMG up 1.5%.
  • Transfield Services (TSE) — Trading Halt — Has announced the acquisition of Easternwell for $575m. It will be funded through $271m in drawn debt via new facilities and a 2-for-9 entitlement offer to raise $294m. The entitlement offer will be fully underwritten at $3 a share.
  • Santos (STO) is set to formally approve its $18bn Gladstone LNG project early this week and might even announce a $1bn plus equity raising. STO up 0.6%.
  • Woolworths (WOW) is set to launch an e-commerce site for its Dan Murphy’s liquor chain. Some analysts believe Dan Murphy’s online sales could eventually reach 10% of its annual revenue. WOW up 0.3%.
  • Citigold (CTO) has raised $7m through investment funds and high net worth individuals to fund growth. CTO down 4%.
  • Perilya (PEM) has acquired 97.7% of Canadian listed GlobeStar Mining Corp. PEM up 2.9%.
  • MEO Australia (MEO) — down 53% to 23c after announcing the Artemis-1 exploration well in WA didn’t find hydrocarbons in its target zone. MEO owns 25% of the permit which was its first Australian well. Petrobras recently bought 50% of the related permit. MEO recently raised $32.6m at 52c. CUE Energy (CUE) also down 23% – they own 15% of the Artemis -1 project.
  • Westfield Group’s new entity Westfield Retail Trust (WRT) listed at midday today at 275c. Opened at 263c.
  • Fairfax Media (FXJ) has acquired New Zealand’s TenderLink for NZ$21.6m. FXJ up 0.7%.
  • RBA Governor Glenn Stevens has warned Australia can’t keep raising its level of debt indefinitely saying it is not a good idea.
  • Molopo Energy (MPO) has upped its Canadian oil reserves after performing more drilling. MPO up 9.7%.
  • Gunns (GNS) has raised $25m by issuing 41.7m shares to partially fund the Bell Bay asset buy. GNS unchanged at 67c.

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