The market is down 2. The SFE Futures were up 16 this morning.

Wall Street closed up 18 overnight. The Dow was up 22 at best and down 52 at worst. The S&P 500 finished higher for the 5th consecutive session. Alcoa kicked off the reporting season after the close of market with earnings beating expectations and the share price up 3.5% in after hours trade. Positive news in Europe — Greece’s budget deficit cut by a higher than expected 46% in the 1st half of year. Both oil and gold fell overnight, 0.86% and 0.89% respectively and the Aussie dollar increased to 87.67c from 87.61c.

Main news…

  • Resources struggling today after economic figures out of China yesterday showed that China imported 328,231 tonnes of copper, copper alloy and semi-finished products, down 17% from last month and down 31% from June 2009. China’s iron ore imports also fell 9.1% on last month and down 15% on lat year. There are GDP, Industrial production, Retail sales, CPI and PPI numbers due out in China on Thursday.
  • Emeco Holdings (EHL) says FY net profit will be at the lower end of previous guidance. They now expect net profit to be between $40m-$41m, compared to previous guidance of $40m-$44m. EHL up 4c to 62c.
  • Energy Resources Australia (ERA) has released their quarterly activities report. 2nd Q production fell 44% on the year; they expect to regain access to higher-grade ore in July but say FY output could fall by as much as 18% on last year. ERA down 3.94% to 1415c.
  • Nufarm (NUF) announced their Chairman Kerry Hoggard will retire because of health reasons and the board will meet later today to confirm his replacement. NUF down 5c to 530c.
  • Tox Free Solutions (TOX) have made a few board changes. TOX unchanged at 228c.
  • APN News & Media (APN) CEO Brendan Hopkins resigned yesterday; he is leaving at the end of the year. There is talk that he was pushed by institutional shareholders. APN up 0.5c to 199c.
  • Alumina (AWC) has taken in $US95m in dividends from their JV with US partner Alcoa Inc in the 1st half of 2010.
  • One economist says the Reserve Bank of Australia is likely to delay lifting interest rates and expects one more 25bp rise by the end of the year.
  • Total personal finance commitments increased 0.1% in May, seasonally adjusted, to $6.793bn, up from $6.787bn in April. Lending finance was up 11.8% in May after a seasonal adjustment to $440m.
  • Stock hitting fresh yearly lows today include: Cabcharge (CAB) and Dominion Mining (DOM)

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