The market is down 9. Futures were up 2. Dow Jones finished up 60 on above-average volumes. The Dow was up 86 at best and down 40 at worst.

US industrial production was -0.5% in April, missing the forecast of +0.1%, with March’s gain revised down to 0.3%. Capacity utilisation fell to 77.8% missing the forecast of 78.4% and below the previous reading of 78.3%. Manufacturing production was down 0.4% following a 0.3% drop in March.

The Empire manufacturing survey was -1.43 in May, missing the forecast of +4.75 and below the +3.05 reading in April. The NAHB housing market index was up from 41 to 44 in May, its first increase in 2013.

The Eurozone GDP was -0.2% for the March quarter, posting its sixth successive quarterly contraction. Annual GDP growth reached a new low of 1.0%.

ANNOUNCEMENTS & STORIES

  • Graincorp’s (GNC) — 1H profit fell by 34% due to costs from the purchase of several food companies. The company reported a profit of $88 million which was down from $133.7 million. The result included $20 million in costs related to Graincorp’s response to ADM’s takeover offer. The new oils business delivered more than $400 million in additional revenue. Fully franked interim dividend of 25c which included a 5c special dividend. GNC is up 0.04% to 1275c.
  • Telecom NZ (TEL) — Down in early trade on higher restructuring costs. TEL is down 3.92% to 208.5c.
  • Australian Infrastructure Fund (AIX) — Has completed the sale of all its assets on 15 April 2013. The cash return is expected to total $3.1925 per AIX Security. AIX up 8.33%. AIX is up 6.78% to 17.25c.
  • The MSCI Australia 200 Index is designed to reflect the performance of the largest 200 companies of the domestic Australian equity market. The index announced three changes — SEK was included whilst OZL and SGM were excluded.
  • Seek (SEK) — Shares Up 6.76% on MSCI Australia Index inclusion.
  • Oz Minerals (OZL) — Was excluded in the MSCI Australia Index but shares are still up 0.62% to 407.5c.
  • Sims Metal Shares (SGM) — Shares down 7.01% on MSCI Australia Index exclusion.
  • Chorus (CNU) — Have given an update on the progress of their ultra fast broadband network rollout in NZ. CNU is up 0.43% to 232c.
  • Spark Infrastructure (SKI) — Is down 0.28% after their AGM. The company expected FY13 guidance of 11cps, yield of 6.1%. SKI is down 0.28% to 181c.
  • Sydney Airport (SYD) — Traffic results: total airport traffic was up 3.1%. Domestic traffic was up 3.7% and international traffic was up 1.9%. SYD is up 0.82% to 369c.
  • Coffee International (COF) — Shares are up 25% after issuing a profit downgrade on Monday, share price fell 56.52%.