The market is up 17, after being up 36 early on. The SFE Futures were up 3 this morning.

The Dow Jones closed up 42 overnight and was up 111 at best. The IMF cut its world economic growth forecast. June consumer sentiment fell more than expected, but the Leading Economic Indicators Index rebounded. The oil price fell $1.94 to $93.01 — a near four-month low. The gold price was up $9.20 to $1539.10 and the Aussie dollar rose to 106.01 from 105.67c.

In the news today…

  • European governments have failed to agree on releasing a loan payment to spare Greece from default, ramping up pressure on Prime Minister George Papandreou to first deliver budget cuts in the face of domestic opposition.
  • Caltex (CTX) – PROFIT WARNING – CTX is now forecasting an after tax profit of $100m-$115m for the first half of 2011, down from $163m for H1 2010. The company said, “The difference between 2010 and 2011 is largely attributable to challenging externalities and operational disruptions that negatively impacted production levels”. CTX down 6.7% to 1062c. It was down 31% from the April high ahead of today.
  • A Leighton Holdings (LEI) and GE consortium has been awarded a $130m contract to build the Mumbida wind farm south-east of Geraldton in WA. They expect the project to be completed by November 2012.  LEI down 7c to 2093c.
  • There are claims that an Austal (ASB) built vessel for the US Navy has suffered ”aggressive corrosion” less than 2 years after being commissioned. Fears are that the deal, worth more than $US3 billion if the US Navy ordered all 10 vessels, could now be in jeopardy. ASB down 3.7%.
  • Pacific Brands (PBG) is facing a $9m unlawful dismissal law suit by a former manager who claims she was the victim of bullying and discrimination. PBG down 0.7% to 67c.
  • Mineral Deposits (MDL) is planning a joint venture with France’s Eramet SA in Senegal worth more than $1bn. Mineral Deposits will sell part of their 90% stake in the Grand Cote mineral sands project into the 50-50 joint venture, while Eramet would contribute 100% of its Tyssedal titanium slag and high-purity pig iron plant in Norway and cash of US$30m. MDL unchanged at 684c. MDL in a trading halt.
  • MAp Group (MAP) reports that passenger traffic at Sydney Airport was up 4.2% in May on May 2010, and that international travelers were up 7.8% on May 2010. MAP up 1.3%.
  • Metcash (MTS) ex dividend today 16c…it is a high yielding stock. MTS down 16c at 395c.
  • Incitec Pivot (IPL) has a company tour going on today and Tuesday for analysts. IPL up 2c to 374c.

For a free 5 day obligation FREE TRIAL of the MARCUS TODAY newsletter Click Here. You will receive our renowned and popular Daily email about the stockmarket with all the stuff you need to know ahead of the trading day including:

  • Overnight developments, news, comments, rumours, broker recommendations and ideas from Marcus and his Team.
  • Our Recommended Portfolio which is actively managed on behalf of subscribers.…no “set & forget”. Everything you need to effortlessly managed your own long term investment portfolio. It includes Income Portfolio recommendations.
  • Daily Technical Trading ideas and data, including daily scans of the ASX 300 for stocks changing trend.
  • Stock Database – all the numbers with comments on the top 300 stocks and more.
  • Educational section – Marcus’s Educational and Entertaining articles.

We also offer a FREE END OF DAY EMAIL — Click here — A free summary of the day in the market.

Subscribe to MARCUS TODAY — Click Here. We are sure you will enjoy and profit from what we offer…we have one of the highest re-subscription rates in the financial newsletter industry.