The market is down 37. SFE Futures were down 28 this morning.

The Dow closed down 115 — was down 126 at worst. July home sales came in better than expected (+3.6%) but the initial unemployment claims data before the US markets opened missed expectations. The President of the Reserve Bank of Saint Louis James Bullard told CNBC that new measures by the US Central Bank were not a certainty contradicting the tone of Wednesday’s release of minutes from the Fed’s latest policy meeting.

Weak Chinese and Euro zone data — The HSBC Chinese Flash PMI number came in below expectations yesterday and the Eurozone PMI number was benign. The focus is now on the meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras tonight.

Worst Sectors — Basic Materials (-1.7%), Utilities (-1.0%), Technology (-1.0%), Financials (-1.0%) and Energy (-1.0%). The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell by 0.6% with Utilities (-1.3%), Financials (-0.8%), Energy (-0.6%) and Industrials (-0.6%).

Spanish 10 year bond yield up 7.2bpts to 6.34%. Italian 10 year bond yield up 3.9bpts to 5.69%. Metals up–– Copper up 1.06%, Nickel up 2.70%, Zinc up 1.58%, Aluminium up 1.84% and Lead was up 1.94%. Iron Ore down 4.9% to $99.6 per tonne. Vale SA (world’s largest iron ore producer) down 3.2% in San Paulo to 34.19 reais, a 35 month low. Aussie dollar is at 104.39c

Earnings Season Results:

  • Woolworths (WOW) — FY12 guidance disappoints — Net profit of $1.82bn down 15%. WOW expects net profit to grow in the range of 3%-6% in the 2012/13 year. Forecast was below market expectations of almost 8%. WOW is down 1.66% to 2900c.
  • Whitehaven Coal (WHC) — FY result slight below consensus — Net profit of $62.5m overshadowed by Nathan Tinkler’s decision to pull out of his 520c takeover bid. WHC is down 12.07% to 306c.
  • IRESS (IRE) — Interim result below consensus forecast — Profit was $19.7m down from $21.7m and below an analyst forecast of $25.9m. IRE is down 2.22% to 704c.
  • NRW Holdings (NWH) — FY result above expectations — Net profit of $97.1m up 136% and above a consensus forecast of $95.4m. NWH is down 3.67% to 289c.
  • Australian Infrastructure Fund (AIX) — Receives takeover bid — FY Profit of $195m which was down 8% from $212m. AIX is up 21.51% to 322c after a $2bn bid from the Future Fund.
  • Telecom Corp of NZ (TEL) — Net profit of $1.15bn up 604.3%. Revenue was $4.576bn down 8.6%. Final dividend 11c. TEL is down 8.18% to 196.5c.
  • St Barbara (SBM) — FY statutory profit up 90% to $130m. Underlying profit up 140% to $131m. Cash balance of $185m. SBM is down 0.81% to 152.75c.
  • Tabcorp Holdings (TAH) — is seeking compensation of $686.8m from the Victorian government following the expiry of their license to operate poker machines. TAH is down 1.39% to 284c.

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