The market is down 13. The SFE Futures were down 15 this morning.

Wall St. closed up 8 overnight. The Dow closed above 11,000. The Dow was up 32 at best and down 5 at worst. The 45bn Euro Greek rescue package announcement failed to generate much excitement although the Euro did rally and the US$ dropped. Metals were mostly up overnight on the LME. Oil fell another 68c to $84.26 and Gold lifted slightly – up 30c to $1162. The Aussie dollar dropped to 92.64c versus 93.64c yesterday morning. 94c represents the immediate resistance.

In the news today…

  • Talk in the AFR of the ASX Ltd (ASX) launching a bid for IRESS Market Technology (IRE) now that ASX is set to lose their monopoly in the Australian securities trading market. IRE is up 3.2% to 881c on the back of the (rather old) rumour. The stock has also been helped by a leading broker upgrading the stock to a Hold from a Sell. ASX down another 26c to 3386c.
  • Macarthur Coal (MCC) says one of their major shareholders, ArcelorMittal, hasn’t decided yet whether they will vote in favour of their planned takeover of Gloucester Coal (GCL) and the planned transactions with Noble Group. MCC down 26c to 1626c — talk remains that Xstrata will be the next company to launch a bid for MCC, possibly paying up to $17 a share.
  • OneSteel (OST) down 2.4% to 400c after a technical failure halted production at their Whyalla blast furnace. Both OST and Blues cope Steel tiring on the charts.
  • The Sunday Times in the UK reported the National Australia Bank (NAB) is working on an $US3bn float for their UK operations as well as being shortlisted to acquire branches in the UK belonging to the Royal Bank of Scotland. NAB up 8c to 2773c.
  • Woolworths (WOW) has delayed their 3Q sales result until 30 April … it was expected this Friday. WOW down 42c to 2787c.
  • Talk of James Packer buying another 3% of Crown (CWN) on market this Friday when he is eligible to do so under ‘creep’ provisions. CWN down 4c to 826c.
  • Macmahon Holdings (MAH) — down 2.5c to 82c — has previously said they are likely to win a $90m government contract.
  • Lend Lease (LLC) is set to enter a JV with London Continental Railways to redevelop land at Stratford City in the UK. They have signed a conditional framework agreement. LLC down 3c to 858c.
  • Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) down 5.6% to 1858c after uranium output from their Ranger mine was down 27% in the last Q YonY to 888 metric tons. They also announced average ore grades processed during the period down also down 41%.
  • PaperlinX (PPX) said they will close their mill at Burnie in Tasmania. PPX up 0.5c to 75c.

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