The market is up 49. The SFE Futures were up 8 this morning.

The Dow Jones closed up 54 on Friday and was up 175 at best. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 244,000 jobs in April, the most since May 2010. A rise of 185,000 jobs was expected. The unemployment rate was 9.0% in April, up from 8.8%. Consumer credit also rose more than expected for its sixth month of expansion. The gold price was up $10.20 to $1491.60 an ounce. The oil price fell $2.62 to $97.18 and was down 14% in the week. The Aussie dollar is now buying 107.43c, up from 105.93 on Friday.

Today’s main stories…

  • Spotless Group (SPT) has rejected a $656.9m or $2.50 per share takeover offer from an unidentified US private equity firm. They said the offer, which is at a 25% premium to Friday’s closing price, doesn’t reflect the company’s fundamental value. SPT up 13.6%.
  • Incitec Pivot (IPL) has increased H1 profit by 25% and says earnings will be biased towards the 2nd half on seasonality of Australian agriculture and the North American and Asia Pacific explosives market. Revenue rose 15% as explosives volumes grew. IPL up 1.6%.
  • Ausenco (AAX) has been awarded a contract to manage the C$237m expansion of the Gilbraltar copper-molybdenum project in Canada for Taseko Mines. AAX up 7.2%.
  • Atlas Iron (AGO) will expand capacity at its Wodgina iron ore mine in the Pilbara  and entered into a 6-year infrastructure agreement with Global Advanced Metals. AGO up 4.2%.
  • Australian Agricultural Co. (AAC) has been placed in a trading halt at they prepare to undertake a share placement to sophisticated investors.  AAC last traded at 155c.
  • Origin Energy (ORG) has acquired a 40% interest in Chile’s leading geothermal exploration company, Energia Andina. ORG up 1c to 1622c.
  • Tabcorp (TAH) has paid $60m for a 10 year Victorian Keno Licence, which is expected to add $20m per annum to TAH’s earnings before tax. Tabcorp will operate Victorian Keno from April 2012. TAH up 1.4%.
  • Gloucester Coal (GCL) has been placed in a trading halt as they prepare an announcement in relation to two potential takeovers and a new share sale. GCL last traded at 990c.
  • DIARY – Federal Budget tomorrow. The CBA quarterly trading update is on Wednesday (11th May). ANZ ex dividend 64c on Thursday (12th May). Westpac ex dividend 76c on Monday 16th May (next Monday). NAB ex dividend 84c on Thursday 2nd June. David Jones 3rd Q sales Wednesday. Macquarie Group ex dividend 100c today.

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