The market is up 27. The SFE Futures were up 33 this morning.

Dow Jones was up 135 and up 139 at best. The S&P500 had its biggest gain in two months after China signaled that they would continue to make growth a priority. German and French officials said they will work to keep Greece in the Euro. The US Technology sector the biggest gainer. Facebook shares fell 11% closing at $34 well below its issue price of $38. Gold was flat. Metal prices were mixed with Nickel the best performer up 2.1% and copper up 1.1%. Oil price 1.4% up to $92.57. BHP and RIO ADRs were both up, 3.17% and 3.75%. US Treasury 10-year notes traded close to record low yields. The A$ back to just below parity at $99.12.

Main points:

  • Qantas (QAN) announced plans to restructure their business by splitting the international and domestic operations into two separate businesses from July this year. Each business will have its own executive and report separately. This comes after QAN  announced yesterday that it will cut 500 engineering jobs and close their maintenance base at Tullamarine. There is also speculation that QAN may resume abandoned plans to bring back a code-share with Emirates to solve network issues in Europe and strengthen their proposition to the corporate market.
  • GrainCorp (GNC) delivered an interim profit of $133.7m up 52.5% well above an expected $85.2m. The increase was driven by higher earnings from storage, handling and port activities. Earnings were also higher coming in at $235m after strong grain volumes and lower variable harvest costs.  GNC has also lifted profit guidance from $165m-$185m to $185m-$205m as the company is anticipating strong malt sales of 1.35m tonnes. Fully franked dividend of 15c plus a special dividend of 15c.
  • Thorn Group (TGA) reported a FY profit of $27.8m up 26.4% and above expectations after their Radio Rentals business performed strongly. Revenue was also up 19.2% to $188m. Final dividend of 5.5c up 11%. Radio Rentals recorded a 3.1% increase in customer growth reinforcing their outlet strategy. Overall a good result in a challenging retail market. No specific guidance given.
  • Leighton Holdings (LEI) has reassured investors at their AGM today that they are on track to deliver a FY profit of between $400m-$450m. The company reported a 1st Q loss of $80m at their Airport Link business and Victorian Desalination Plant. On a positive note the company is well shielded from the turmoil in Europe as it has no exposure to that part of the world. LEI also announced plans to divest their troubled Middle Eastern Habtoor unit via an IPO in 2016.
  • Eureka Energy (EKA) is consulting with lawyers in relation to concerns that Aurora Oil and Gas (AUT) may withdraw their takeover offer. EKA believes there are no grounds on which AUT can withdraw the $107m take over offer and has instructed their lawyers to investigate their options.

For a five day 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 Portfolio recommendations which is actively managed on behalf of subscribers … no “set & forget”. Everything you need to effortlessly
  • managed your own long term investment portfolio.
  • 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.

Subscribe to MARCUS TODAY. 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.

Just when you thought the dead cat would bounce.