The market is up 50. The SFE Futures were up 56 this morning.

The Dow closed up 157 on Friday after a better than expected jobs report. The S&P 500 was up 1.5% and was up more than 2% for the week for its fifth straight weekly gain. The Nasdaq rose 1.6% to an 11-year high. The US unemployment rate fell to 8.3% in January, from 8.5% in December. This is the lowest since February 2009 and is below consensus estimates for unemployment to remain at 8.5%. Commodity prices were higher — Copper, nickel, aluminum all up by more than 2%. The oil price was higher for the first time in 6 days, up $1.48 to $97.84, and the gold price fell $19 to $1740.30 in its biggest 1-day loss in a month. The Aussie dollar is now trading at 107.69c, up from Friday.

Main points…

  • The results season starts this week. The main ones include BHP Billiton (Wed), Rio Tinto (Thur) and Telstra (Wed). Both NAB and Macquarie Group release their trading updates tomorrow. The NAB will set the tone for the rest of the bank sector. CBA results next week. The RBA meet tomorrow – most economists expect a cut in the official cash rate to 4.0% from 4.25%.
  • Perpetual’s (PPT) CEO Chris Ryan has agreed to step down following a disagreement with the board.   Ryan has been in the role for less than a year. Head of private wealth and retail distribution Geoff Lloyd will replace Ryan, effective immediately. PPT up 38c to 2062c.
  • Extract Resources (EXT) is set to receive a $2.2 billion bid from China Guangdong Nuclear Power subsidiary Taurus Minerals, which recently acquired 89.5% of EXT’s major shareholder, Kalahari Minerals. EXT up 3c to 860c.
  • PanAust Limited (PNA) has announced positive drilling results at their Nam San and LCT copper-gold prospects in Laos. The two mines will be high priority targets for exploration and resource development. PNA up 4% to 372c.
  • Downer EDI (DOW) has reached an agreement with the NSW Government to restructure the financing of Reliance Rail train building project. They will receive an investment of $175m in 2018 in return for 100% of the equity Reliance Rail. DOW up 8% to 384c.
  • Gunns (GNS) – Trading Halt pending a capital raising and equity raising, that will no doubt dilute the value of the company for existing shareholders. GNS last traded at 12.5c.
  • Macquarie Group (MQG) has advised it plans to conduct a $800m (10%) share buyback. The investment bank will be bucking a global trend if it can convince APRA to give it the green light. MQG is trading at 2564c up 65c (+3.68%).
  • December Retail Sales numbers down 0.1% against expectations for a 0.1% rise. Up 0.4% for the Q vs Est +0.6%.
  • Job Ads up 6.0% in January and up 0.7% on the year. Biggest monthly rise since February 2010.

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