The market is down 48. 24 points off its low. The SFE Futures were down 87 this morning.

Tomorrow is Australian Day Holiday – financial markets are closed.

Wall Street fell for the 3rd straight session falling 216 points. It was the biggest one-day fall since 30th October. The Dow is now down 552 points or 5.15% over the past 3 sessions. The S&P 500 fell 2.12%. Concerns about Obama’s plans to regulate the size and activities of banks continues to cause some anxiety and press that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke might not see a second term didn’t help to calm nerves. Both Gold and Oil fell. The Aussie dollar increased to 90.38c from 90.08c Friday morning.

A little quiet on the news front this morning:

  • Macquarie Atlas Roads (MQA) has debuted at 51c a share after the 5-for-1 security consolidation of Macquarie Infrastructure Group’s roads. It gives MQA a market cap of $230m, a massive 82% discount to the $1.28bn valuation the directors gave it. According to those directors, MQA may not pay any distributions to shareholders for another 4-5 years. Macquarie Infrastructure Group (MIG) now trading at 125.5c after adjusting and is now trading at a 24% discount to the directors’ valuation of $3.8bn. MIG up 3.1%.
  • Ausenco (AAX) has been awarded an $US130m Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract. AAX up 12c to 423c.
  • Industrea (IDL) has provided FY guidance and an update on its 1H results. IDL up 1c to 43.5c.
  • Aluminium is being tipped as a sector with “enormous growth potential” according to one analyst. Aluminium prices increased 68% in the past year on the LME. AWC up 3.5c to 2.08%. RIO’s Alcan division CEO expects demand to be back to pre financial crisis levels in 3 years.
  • Mount Gibson (MGX) has confirmed no damage was recorded at Kooland Island as a result of Tropical Cyclone Magda. It will complete full re-mobilisation of Kooland today. MGX up 1.5c to 159.5c.
  • The Australian PPI figure has come in lower-than-expected for the December quarter. PPI fell 0.4% for an annual fall of 1.5%, compared to the 0.1% rise in the September quarter. Economists expected the PPI to rise 0.1%. Less chance of a rate rise next week.
  • Clive Palmer is delaying the offshore float of his coal and iron ore assets. He originally planned to list his company, Resourcehouse, on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last October, but now plans to list in March.
  • ArcelorMittal (world’s biggest steelmaker) and Posco have both upped steel output to meet and expected 10% lift in demand this year. BSL down 4c to 283c and OST down 4c to 319c.
  • Stocks hitting fresh yearly highs today include: Otto Energy (OEL), Oroton Group (ORL) and Wide Bay Australia (WBB). Citigold Corp (CTO) has hit a fresh yearly low.

The Dow Jones Futures are up 38 at midday

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