The market is up 64. The SFE Futures were up 57 this morning.

The Dow Jones closed up 197 on Friday. The Dow closed near its session high — up 203 at best. The Dow and S&P 500 reached their highest levels since May. The S&P 500 had its biggest gain in three weeks, up 2.12% for its fourth straight weekly gain. New home sales came in below expectations while durable goods orders ex-transportation rose a better than expected 2%. Metals performed strongly and the oil price put on $1.22 to $76.40. The Aussie dollar hit US96c.

  • Quiet week ahead on the news front. Nufarm (NUF) is expected to release their FY results tomorrow and Telstra (TLS) will be in focus on Wednesday – they will hold their annual institutional investor briefing to explain their future business strategy. TLS up 2c to 269c.
  • Murchison Metals (MMX) down over 10% to 159.5c after Mitsubishi Corp said they could be reviewing their involvement in the Crosslands iron ore JV with MMX.
  • Cabcharge Australia (CAB) down 4.03% to 571c after putting on 10.5% on Friday as it settled with the ACCC over anti-competitive behaviour allegations by paying a $15m fine.
  • Wesfarmers (WES) will invest $600m in their Bunnings chain in NSW. The money will be invested in 18 metropolitan and regional sites over the next 3 years. WES hits a new year high — up 2.5% to 3459c.
  • Lynas Corp (LYC) — whose share price is up 144% this financial year – is considering fast-tracking an expansion of their Mt Weld rare earths project thanks to increased demand for minerals. They announced this morning that the advanced mineral plant is due to be commissioned in July-Sept 2011.
  • Charter Hall Group will acquire a new $75m Woolworths distribution centre in Tasmania. CHC down 0.5c to 59c.
  • CFS Retail Property Trust (CFX) has completed their $540m institutional placement. CFX down 2.8% to 189.5c.
  • About to list…QR National is expected to finalise pricing and allocation of their $3bn debt facility this week, before their prospectus is launched at the end of next week.
  • Notable stocks going ex dividend today: Consolidated Media (6c), Crown (19c), Healthscope (9c), Lycopodium (22x) and Newcrest (20c).
  • Stocks hitting fresh yearly highs today: Aurora Oil & Gas (AUT), Centennial Coal (CEY), Domino Pizza (DMP), Wesfarmers (WES).

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