The market is down 85. The ASX 200 is now down 215 points since Thursday. Financial Markets were closed yesterday for the Australian Day holiday. The SFE Futures were down 33 this morning.

Wall Street closed down 2 overnight after putting on 23 the previous session. The continued concerns are that China will put in measures to slow growth. That has lead to weakness metal prices and the A$. Oil fell slightly, 1c to $75.25 and Gold put on $2 to $1098. The Aussie dollar fell to 89.87c compared to 90.46c yesterday morning.

In the news today:

  • Australia’s CPI increased by a higher-than-expected 0.5% in the Dec Q. Economists expected a 0.4% rise, which would have taken the annual rate to 2%. The numbers reinforce the general consensus that the RBA will again raise interest rates at its meeting next week.
  • Woolworths (WOW) down 2% to 2691c after releasing disappointing 2Q sales numbers. Total sales were up 4.1% compared to the 5.9% rise expected analysts expected. The appear to have lost market share to the IGA for the first time. Patersons maintain their Hold recommendation and 2800c target price.
  • Reporting season has officially kicked off this morning. GUD Holdings (GUD) is outperforming after announcing a better than expected 1H profit of $24.8m. GUD says it will let its offer for Breville Group (BRG) lapse after the ACCC said it would be anti-competitive. GUD up 1.43%.
  • Cochlear (COH) – CEO says the company will not participate in the $3.1bn auction for Seimens hearing aid division because it is focusing on implants rather than external devices. COH down 3.65% to 6413c.
  • Lend Lease (LLC) might have to raise capital in order to maintain its investment grade rating which currently stands at BBB-, on “negative watch”. LLC down 14c to 955c.
  • AMP’s CEO Craig Dunn says AMP is not yet done with AXA Asia Pacific (AXA) despite making its offer “best and final”. He said although the NAB bid has made the situation challenging, “There’s a long way to go yet”. He also said the NAB was being helped by the government guarantee. AXA up 5c to 659c and AMP down 14c to 630c.
  • Extract Resources (EXT) releases its quarterly cashflow report. Its new uranium exploration target is 185m-285m lb and expects to appoint a new MD by the end of the March Q. EXT down 2.09% to 795c.
  • Leighton Holdings (LEI) announces its JV has been awarded a $245m contract to design and construct the first phase of a hospital in Honk Kong. LEI unchanged at 3845c.
  • Macarthur Coal (MCC) says its coal sales for the 2Q increased 18% to $1.45m metric tons. MCC down 11c to 1029c.
  • Paladin (PDN) down 8.7% to 354c after its 2Q production report outlined disappointing ramp up for its Kayelekera mine in Malawi.
  • UGL Ltd (UGL) has been awarded a five year contract to provide property management services for Westpac Bank. UGL up 1c to 1275c.

The Dow Futures were up 20 at midday.

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