The market is down 28. The SFE Futures were down 12 this morning.

The Dow closed down 62 after being down as much as 93 at worst and up 16 at best. Disappointing ISM Services numbers set the trend. The ECB left rates unchanged with warnings on the outlook for Europe. The RBA have cut GDP forecasts this morning. The S&P 500 closed down 0.77% and the Nasdaq down 1.16%. European markets were mixed — the UK was higher, while Germany and France closed down. Metals were mostly down on the LME. The gold price was down $19.20 to $1634.80. Oil down 79¢ to $102.56. The Australian dollar is now buying 102.63¢ down from 103.16¢ yesterday. Consumer Staples were the only S&P 500 sector to close with a gain, 0.15%. Energy and Material stocks underperformed.

Main points:

  • The RBA cut their growth and inflation forecast and have delivered a reasonably gloomy outlook for the economy, saying growth is modest. Weaker global conditions have hit exports. Core inflation is forecast to remain inside their 2%-3% target band through to the end of 2013. GDP growth in year end terms is expected at 2.75% in June compared with a previous forecast of 3.5%. They forecast 3.0% at year end down from a Feb forecast of 3-3.5%. Little given away about the timing of any future rate cuts.
  • Qantas Airways (QAN) will cut spending by another $400m next year by delaying delivery of a new Airbus A380 aircraft. They now expect delivery of the aircraft in 2016-2017. Another six A380’s are scheduled to be delivered in 2018-2019. The company has however, announced big increases in capacity to their domestic flights to maintain a 65% market share. QAN will add extra flights to routes between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
  • ARB Corp (ARP) up 24% since the start of the year, has delivered an increase of 2.3% in sales revenue to $132.1m. Profit was up 1.6% to $18.3m. The company manufactures, distributes and sells 4WD vehicle accessories locally and internationally. Despite natural disasters that have affected vehicle supply around the world, ARP was still able to maintain sales growth.
  • Eureka Energy (EKA) has rejected the $107m or 45c per share takeover offer from Aurora Oil and Gas (AUT) saying the offer was an opportunistic bid which undervalued the company. No counter offer by AUT has been made.
  • Consolidated Media’s (CMJ) major shareholder James Packer is looking to offload as much as $1.1bn of his stake in the company to pursue a merger of his casino company Crown (CWN) and rival Echo Entertainment (EGP).
  • Harvey Norman (HVN) down 1.45% yesterday after reporting a 25% fall in profit have defended their franchise model saying it is sustainable and highlight the group’s exposure to furniture, appliances and bedding where sales continue to grow although their profit decline was thanks to a fall in audio visual and IT which account for 70% of sales.

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