The market is up 42 hitting 5170 breaking the recent high of 5163. Our futures were up 21 this morning. The Dow finished up 106 to a new record high of 14,818 on local economic news and the announcement of a new government in Italy. The Dow was up 132 at best. Volumes were below average ahead of the FOMC and ECB meetings on Wednesday and Thursday.

US consumer spending was up 0.2% in March missing the forecast of 0.3% after a 0.7% lift in February. US personal income was up by 0.2% missing the forecast of 0.3% and previous reading of 1.1%. The household savings rate was unchanged at 2.7%. US pending home sales were up by 1.5% last month, beating the forecast and previous reading of 0.1%; this was the highest level since April 2010. US 10-year bond yield was flat at 1.67%. The VIX (Volatility Index) was up 0.73%.

Best sectors — energy, technology. Worst sectors — consumer staples, healthcare, industrials. European markets up — UK FTSE up 0.49%, German DAX up 0.75%, France up 1.54%, Spain up 1.85%, Italy up 2.20%.

Metals up — copper up 1.75%, nickel up 1.97%, zinc up 0.52%, aluminium up 0.85%. Spot iron ore was down $1.00 to $133.00. Gold was up $21.20 to $1474.70 (1 week high). Oil up $1.46 to $94.46.

  • ANZ — Interim results include a higher dividend than expected and committed to a higher payout ratio, exactly what the market wanted lifting the whole sector ahead of WBC results on Friday. ANZ posted a first-half cash profit of $3.182 billion, slightly above an expected $3.12 billion. More importantly the bank increased its dividend to 73c up from 66c. ANZ boss Mike Smith said he was “confident” of the bank’s outlook for the full financial year despite stress in parts of Australia’s economy. ANZ is up 4.15% to 3135c.
  • Westfield Group (WDC) — Has terminated its 50% joint venture interest in Brazil with Almeida Junior Shopping Centers SA less than two years after they entered the emerging market. Westfield says the Brazil JV was less than 1% of its portfolio. WDC is up 0.17% to 1160c.
  • Whitehaven Coal (WHC) — Quarterly results — third-quarter saleable output was up 104% on year to 1.8m tonnes. Coal sales were up 54% to 2 million tonnes. The company says the coal market remains weak and the business continues to struggle under the pressure of the high Aussie dollar. WHC is down 0.51% to 195c.
  • G8 Education (GEM) — Has acquired three premium childcare and education centres in NSW for $3.3 million. GEM is up 1.66% to 245c.
  • Ceramic Fuel Cells (CFU) — Down 16% in early trade after the company announced the issue of both new ordinary shares and secured convertible loan notes. CFU is down 14.3% to 4.8c.
  • Telstra (TLS) within a whisker of 500c this morning