The market is up 73. The SFE Futures were up 62 this morning.

Wall Street closed up 249 overnight. The Dow was up 270 at best and up 1 at worst. Best one day gain since September 1. The S&P 500 moved above the 1200 line and traded above its 14-day moving average for the first time in 11 sessions. Better than expected economic data was the catalyst as well as a better-than-expected bond auction by Portugal. Metals were all up overnight, the oil price put on $2.64 to $86.75 and Gold increased by $2.20 to $1388.50. The Aussie dollar fell to 96.80c on the back of the GDP figure coming in lower than expected yesterday.

Today’s main points … quiet day on the news front.

  • Treasurer Wayne Swan is expected to unveil plans this month to create a “fifth pillar” in domestic banking. The recently closed government guarantee scheme that protected the big-four banks during the GFC is to be reopened on a limited basis for credit unions, building societies and regional banks. The package is also likely to provide funds for smaller lenders, as well as expanding the use of Australia Post branches for credit union transactions. CBA up 1.44%, NAB up 2.4%, ANZ up 2.5% and WBC up 1.98%.
  • Nufarm (NUF) said at its AGM that it expects operating profit in the 1st half 2010/11 to be $10m-$20m. Says its Q1 earnings have been well ahead of the previous corresponding period due to stronger earnings in most markets and the absence of the negative impacts of glyphosate related write-downs. NUF up 3% to 482c.
  • Foster’s Group (FGL) has indicated it is getting closer to finalizing the demerger of its beer and wine businesses. It first announced demerger intentions in May. FGL up 3c to 571c.
  • James Hardie (JHX) up 4% to 572c and Boral (BLD) up 3.1% to 463c on the back of US data showing signs that construction spending had picked up.
  • Leighton Holdings (LEI) has won a 20 year, $5.5bn contract to mine coal at NTPC Pakri Barwadhi field in India. LEI up 1.4% to 3171c.
  • The balance of trade for October widened to $2.63bn, up from a surplus of $1.81bn in September and above the $2bn economists had expected.
  • Australian retail sales fell 1.1% to a seasonally adjusted $20.23bn in October from $20.45bn in September and were up from $19.8bn a year earlier.
  • Stocks hitting fresh yearly highs: Ausdrill (ASL), Riversdale Mining (RIV), Summit Resources (SMM).

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