MMR July 8

The market is down 22. ASX 200 Futures were down 13 this morning.  The Dow Jones finished up 147 on Friday.

US markets traded on low volumes when they reopened after the Independence Day public holiday (lot of traders take a long weekend).

The US non-farm payrolls were up by 195,000 in June, ahead of forecasts for +165,000 jobs. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 7.6%, and average earnings were up 0.4%. The better-than-expected numbers suggest the Fed may begin tapering the pace of its asset purchases (quantitative easing) sooner rather than later.

Over the week the Dow was up 1.5%, the S&P 500 was up 1.6%, and the Nasdaq was up 2.2%. US 10-year bond yield was up 24bpts to 2.73% (August 2011 high).  Best sectors — healthcare, financials, industrials. Worst sectors –telecom services, utilities, consumer staples.

European markets down — UK FTSE down 0.72%, Germany down 2.36%, France down 1.46%, Spain down 1.67%, Italy down 1.74%.

Metals down — copper down 2.47%, nickel down 3.78%, aluminium down 2.49%, Zinc down 1.27%. Spot iron ore up 60c to $122.60. Iron ore was up $6.10 over the week. Gold was down $39.20 to $1212.70. Oil was up $1.98 to $103.22. BHP and RIO down 0.46% and down 1.38% in ADR form in the US.

ANNOUNCEMENTS & STORIES

  • ANZ job advertisements have fallen by 1.8% in June after a 2.5% fall in May. WA was the hardest hit, recording a fall of 50% from a year ago. NSW and SA recorded better results.
  • Atlas Iron (AGO) — Has approved plans to build a fifth iron-ore mine in the Pilbara region, which will help it reach its 12 million tonne annual production target by the middle of next year. Construction of its $146 million Mt Webber project could begin after it also completes an agreement with joint venture partner Altura Mining (AJM), which owns 30% of the project. The mine is expected to produce 3 million tonnes in its initial phase, with the first shipment pencilled in for June quarter of 2014. AGO is down 4.45% to 80c.
  • Bandanna Energy (BND) — Is up this morning after announcing the sale of its preference equity in WICET Holdings for a gain of $6 million. BND is up 20.45% to 13.25c.
  • A$ — The Aussie dollar fell over the weekend and is now buying US90.5c. Economists are saying the dollar is tipped to fall well below 90 US cents for the first time in almost three years as strong US jobs data bounced the US dollar prompting downgrades for the A$. WBC says the Aussie dollar will fall below US90c either today or tomorrow. The A$ vs US$ is at 90.50usc.