The market is up 5. The SFE Futures were down 34 this morning.

The Dow Jones closed down 139 overnight and was down 202 at worst. The CRB commodity index had its biggest fall in 2 years, down 4.9%. Oil fell 8.6%, its biggest one-day loss on record and had its first close below $100 since mid-March. US Jobless claims jumped more than expected – a worry ahead of the main jobs numbers tonight. The Aussie dollar is now buying 106.83c, down from 107.38 yesterday and 110.12 last weekend. The gold price fell $26.90 to $1513.50 an ounce.

Today’s main stories…

  • For the second day on the trot the market has been marked down on the open and rallied. From down 40 to up 4 so far.
  • The RBA has lifted its inflation forecasts for 2012 and 2013 and says further monetary tightening is likely. They expect inflation to remain above its target band of 2-3% for the rest of the year largely due to fruit and vegetable price increases after the Queensland floods.
  • Sims Metal Management (SGM) 3rd Q results saw net profit jump 74% to $122.8m. Sales revenue was $6.2bn, up 23% from a year ago. EBITDA were $295m, up 38%. SGM CEO Daniel Dienst said the ferrous pricing environment, as well as freight rates, was attractive for international trading and he expected pricing to remain at current levels for the rest of 2010/11. SGM down 1.1%.
  • Macmahon Holdings (MAH) expects its FY 2011 profit to breakeven and says its 2nd half performance is on track with its guidance. MAH down 1%.
  • Macquarie Group (MQG) and private equity firm The Carlyle Group have improved their takeover offer for Redflex Holdings (RDF) by 7%. MQG up 26c to 3475c, RDF up 7.2%.
  • Downer EDI (DOW), with Bombadier Transportation, has been awarded 2 contracts. One is from WA’s Public Transport Authority to maintain and clean its fleet of 239 public rail cars, which is worth about $317m for the first 7½ year term. The other, from the Queensland Government, is for work on the first stage of the Gold Coast Light Rail system. DOW up 2c to 366c.
  • Federal Budget next Tuesday.
  • CBA quarterly trading update next week (Wed 11th May).
  • Mother’s Day on Sunday.
  • ANZ ex dividend 64c on Thursday (12th May).
  • Westpac ex dividend 76c on Monday 16th May.
  • NAB ex dividend 84c on Thursday 2nd June.

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