The market is down 44. The SFE Futures were down 24 this morning.

The Dow Jones closed down 78 overnight. The Dow was up 24 at best and down 119 at worst. The Dow had its biggest fall in a month, adding to last week’s slight decline.New orders for capital goods excluding aircraft were up 5.1% in August, but factory orders fell 0.5%. Pending home sales rose for the 2nd straight month. The oil price lost 11c to $81.47 and Gold lost $1.00 to $1316.80. The Aussie dollar fell to 96.80c.

Today’s main points…

  • The Reserve Bank of Australia meets this afternoon to decide on interest rates.
  • A BHP Billiton takeover of Potash Corp could cut Saskatchewan’s tax revenue by at least $1.96bn over the 10 years following the merger. Canada’s Industry Minister has extended the government’s review of the merger for another 30 days to early November. BHP down 1.35%.
  • Leighton Holdings (LEI) subsidiary Al Habtoor has secured an $US285m project in Abu Dhabi. The project known as KPIZ Industrial Zone A Infrastructure Central and South, will commence immediately and is due for completion in September 2012. LEI down 0.92%.
  • Transfield Services (TSE) secured $1.1bn worth of work in the last quarter, including contracts with BHP Billiton and Caltex. It won $670m of work with existing clients, including Australian Rail Track Corporation, Brisbane City Council, Sydney Water and Chorus. It also secured work in the NBN rollout. TSE down 1.99%.
  • Qantas (QAN) is said to be interested in acquiring WA charter airline Network Aviation. They want to get involved in the business of flying workers to mining sites across WA. QAN down 1.07%.
  • Harvey Norman CEO Gerry Harvey says most retailers are already doing it tough and that an interest rate increase today will only continue to hurt sales. He does however predict a robust Christmas period. HVN down 0.79%.
  • UXC Ltd (UXC) has secured a contract for the construction village at the Chevron-operated Gorgon project. UXC up 1.05%.
  • Indian group Adani Group is expected to lodge a bid for the Port of Brisbane, which is being privatized by the QLD government.
  • iiNet Ltd (IIN) has confirmed the acquisition of AAPT’s consumer division for $60m. IIN down 0.38%.
  • Stocks going ex dividend today: David Jones (18c) and Premier Investments (10c).

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