The market is up 18.  SFE Futures were up 17 this morning.

The Dow closed up 43 — was down 70 at worst. The US Federal Budget was significantly better than expected. Over the week the Dow was up +0.9%, the S&P500 was up +1.1% and the NASDAQ was up +1.8%. The IMF trimmed its 2012 US GDP growth projection to 2.0%, from 2.1% previously. The IMF update also noted that the key emerging economies of Brazil, China and India were all showing signs of slowdown. Manchester United (US:MANU) closed at 1391c after listing at 1400c on Friday.

The UK FTSE was down 0.1%, Germany’s DAX was down 0.3%, France’s CAC was down 0.61%, Spain’s IBEX was down 0.88% and Italy’s MIB was down 0.72%. Metals on the LME were all down on Friday with Copper down 0.61%, Nickel down 0.65% and Lead down 1.29%. Over the week Nickel was down 1.4% and zinc down 0.5% with the rest were up by up to 0.9%. The IEA cut their estimates for global oil demand by 400,000 barrels per day. Oil finished down 49c to 92.87c but over the week was up 3%.Gold was up 260c to $1622.80, over the week gold was up 1%. The Aussie dollar is buying 105.56c.

Reporting Season Results & Announcements:

  • Downer EDI (DOW) — Good FY results — net profit of $195.2m up 17.4% which was above broker consensus of $186m. The result brings the company back into profitability. DOW up 10.26% at 344.5c.
  • UGL — Results below expectations — posted a net profit of $134.3m down 15% and below an expected profit of $143m. UGL is down 8.48% to 1177c.
  • Newcrest Mining (NCM) — FY results OK — net profit of $1.12bn up 23% which was above a consensus forecast of $1.06bn driven by a higher realised gold price. The realised gold price for the year was $1609 per ounce which was 17% or $231 per ounce higher than the previous year. Operating cash flow was $1.726bn. NCM is up 2.51% to 2495c.
  • JB Hi-Fi (JBH) — FY results in line — net profit of $104.6m down 4.6% after facing heavy discounting by competitors. Overall the result was ok and in line with a broker consensus of $105m. BH is up 6.4% to 981c.
  • GPT Group (GPT) — 1st H results better than expected — net profit of $275.5m up 13% and above a consensus forecast of $207m. GPT is up 2.96% to 348c.
  • James Hardie (JHX) — Guidance reduced — Reported a net profit in the 3 months to June 30 of US$68.5m up from US$1m the previous year. The company has given guidance and expects FY operating earnings of US$140m-US$160m which is slightly below a consensus forecast of US$156m-US$177m. JHX is down 4.59% to 789c.
  • Bluescope Steel (BSL) and Nippon Steel Corp (NSC) have agreed to form a new 50:50 US$1.36bn joint venture called NS BlueScope Coated Products. The JV will allow BSL to enter new markets which were previously not accessible. BSL is expected to receive net proceeds of US$540m through NSC’s acquisition of 50% of BSL’s interest in the business. BSL is up 41.35% to 36.75c
  • Japan’s Q on Q GDP came in at +0.3% this morning which was below a forecast of 0.6% and the previous quarter of +1.2%.

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