The market is up 3. SFE futures were up 9 this morning.

US market up 67. The Dow was up 82 at best and down 2 at worst on better than expected company earnings and on news that the Federal Debt ceiling has been lifted until May 19. The Dow has posted gains in 9 of the past 10 sessions.

  • Apple fell 10% after hours on the back of late results setting a rather negative tone for the Us markets this evening.
  • Congress approved an extension of the debt ceiling to May 19th.
  • The IMF trimmed global growth forecasts from 3.6% to 3.5% for both 2013.
  • Google up 5.5% and IBM up 4.4% on their 4Q earnings, IT sector up 1.5%.
  • Gold, oil and US bond yields down.
  • Spot iron ore up $1.80 to $147.70.
  • European markets mixed.  UK Prime Minister David Cameron has called for a Referendum on the UK leaving the EU.
  • BHP up 1.39% and RIO down 1.03% in London.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • Chinese HSBC PMI Manufacturing numbers out at 12.45 today.
  • Newcrest Mining (NCM) — Quarterly production results lower than expected. Produced 492,906oz of Gold in 2Q down 15% on-year. FY copper production guidance unchanged. NCM is down 2.12% to 2305c.
  • OZ Minerals (OZL) — Production results lower than expected — FY Gold output down 12%. OZL is down 6.43% to 684c.
  • PanAust (PNA) — Production results slightly below expectations. Company forecasts steady earnings in 2013. PNA is down 5.97% to 315c.
  • Kingsgate Consolidated (KCN) — Quarterly production report — 2nd Q Gold output up 4.3%. KCN is down 6.39% to 469c.
  • Boral (BLD) — ACCC will not oppose the Boral /Austral acquisition. BLD is down 0.92% to 483.5c.
  • BC Iron (BCI) — 2nd Q Production report — 1 million tonnes shipped down 15% on 1st Q. BCI is down 3.94% to 341c.
  • Cedar Woods Properties (CWP) — Half Year profit upgrade. Increases FY13 profit guidance from $34 million to $35 million. CWP is up 2.03% to 503c.
  • The CPI numbers came in below expectations yesterday and have raised the chances of a rate cut from the RBA on February 5th from 34% to 39% (implied from the Futures market).
  • The IMF cut their global growth forecast from 3.6% to 3.5% for 2013 up from 3.2% in 2012 but said “Policy actions have lowered the crisis risks in the euro area and in the United States” and said growth could be higher if crisis risks do not materialise. They said the debt outlook in Japan was significantly worse and the recovery could prove short lived.
  • Melbourne is the only Australian City in which it is cheaper to rent than pay off a mortgage.