The market is down 48. The SFE Futures were down 21 this morning.

The Dow Jones closed down 3 overnight for its first loss in 5 sessions. It was up 65 at best on the news of Osama bin Laden’s death, the US$ rallied although it closed on a 3 year low. Construction spending and the ISM manufacturing survey were both better than expected. The Aussie dollar is now buying 109.21c after hitting 110.1c yesterday. The gold price was up $0.70 to $1557.10 an ounce while the silver price tumbled as trading deposit requirements were raised. The oil price fell $0.41 at $113.52.

Today’s main stories…

  • ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) – Results in line with consensus but cash earnings a touch (1-2%) below some expectations on Queensland weather provisions – 1st half cash profit came in at $2.83bn, up 19% on last year and in line with the $2.84bn expected. May be some small downgrades. ANZ down 1.4% to 2396c.
  • Fairfax Media (FXJ) has reported revenues for the 2nd half 4.5% lower than last year reflecting “poor cyclical trading conditions”. While the result is within an expected range, it doesn’t expect advertising revenue market to improve. FXJ down 8.4% to 120c.
  • Kathmandu (KMD) has reported total sales in the 3rd quarter up 31.6% helped by favourable weather conditions and a late Easter holiday. Company says 4th quarter sales are still weather dependent. A rare lift for discretionary retailers. KMD up 3.8%.
  • Stockland (SGP) has confirmed its EPS guidance of 8.5% in 2010/11 but warns that buyers are cautious. They say “After a very strong 1H11, net deposits slowed in 3Q11, due largely to a significant fall in south east Queensland” but total lot settlements should be slightly higher in FY 2011 than in FY 2010. SGP down 2.4%.
  • UGL Ltd.’s (UGL) service division has been awarded $160m in integrated facilities management and property services orders with a number of blue chip companies. UGL down 1.1%.
  • Marmota Energy (MEU) said their maiden drill testing of the Big Blue gold project in Nevada has intercepted gold mineralisation. Ramelius (RMS) have an agreement with MEU to earn a 70% interest in the project. MEU unchanged at 8c, RMS down 4.4%.
  • Asciano (AIO) expects to report a 22% jump in FY earnings as business conditions improve after a tough 3rd quarter. EBIT is likely to be $530m to $540m in the year to June, up from last year’s result of $439.56m. CEO Mullen said the quarter was a challenging period and that “many of the events which occurred during the quarter were both out of the ordinary and unforeseen”. AIO up 2c to 166c.
  • Aristocrat Leisure (ALL) says its full year profit will be 10-20% higher in 2011 than in 2010 with performance skewed towards the 2nd half. ALL said, “This guidance assumes stronger operational performance, partially offset by foreign exchange translation, higher interest costs and a higher effective tax rate”.  ALL up 1.1%.

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