The market is down 66. The SFE Futures were down 81 this morning.

The Dow Jones closed down 240 on Friday. It recorded its eighth weekly loss in the past 10 weeks. The S&P 500 finished the quarter with its worst performance since 2008, down 14.3%. Greece approved its 2012 draft budget which suggests the country will miss a deficit target set just months ago. It predicts a deficit of 8.5% of GDP for 2011, well short of the 7.6% target. The 2012 deficit is set to be 6.8% of GDP — short of the 6.5% target. China’s Manufacturing PMI stayed below 50 in September, remaining below the line separating between contraction and expansion for a third straight month. Metals were down on the LME, oil price fell $2.94 to $79.20 and Gold put on $5 to $1622.30. The Aussie dollar dropped to 96.72c from 97.76c.

Today’s main stories…

  • It is a public holiday in NSW, SA and ACT — Labour Day Holiday. The market is open but it’s a non-settlement day.
  • Sundance Resources (SDL) — In a Trading Halt ahead of an announcement on their possible acquisition by Hanlong Mining. The will provide an update regarding the proposal received by Hanlong Mining, who intends on acquiring 100% of the issued capital of SDL. SDL last traded at 43c.
  • ConnectEast (CEU) CEO Tony Shepherd says he expects their initial traffic forecasts for Melbourne’s EastLink will eventually be proved “fairly accurate” after their 2004 projections for traffic on the toll road did not eventuate. CEU up 0.46% to 54c.
  • Alacer Gold Corp (AQG) down 6.2% to 980c on news that Rohan Williams, Chief Strategic Officer, will step down from his executive role at the end of 2011 for personal reasons.
  • Coal & Allied Industries (CNA) said that an offer from Rio Tinto (RIO) and Mitsubishi Corp. to buy outstanding shares they don’t currently hold has been approved by the FIRB. Rio and Mitsubishi are offering $125 a share, up $3 on the indicative price offered early in August. CAN down 3c to 12326c.
  • Wesfarmers (WES) has secured 1.5m tonnes of annual port capacity at stage 1 of their Wiggins Island Coal Terminal to help underpin expansion of their Curragh coking coalmine in QLD. WES down 65c to 3094c.
  • Incitec Pivot (IPL) MD says he is focused on improving IPL’s internal working rather than chase acquisitions. IPL down 3c to 317c.
  • Mirvac Group (MGR) has established a strategic relationship with Aviva Investors via the sale of 50% interest in Hoxton Distribution Park. MGR down 3c to 112c.
  • Australian manufacturing activity further contracted in September. The AIA/PwC Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) fell 1.0 point in September to 42.3.
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