The market is down 46. The SFE Futures were down 29 this morning after an 89 point fall in the ASX 200 yesterday.

The Dow Jones closed down 130 overnight and was down 180 at worst.  Euro zone debt fears in focus as Greek and Italian debt ratings were lowered. Recovery hopes were dented by European PMI manufacturing data that came in lower than expected and disappointing Chinese PMI data yesterday. The CRB Commodity index fell 1.37%. The oil price fell 2.4% to $97.70. Gold up $6.50 to $1515.40. The Aussie dollar dropped to 105.16c from 106.35c.

Today’s main stories…

  • Goldman Sachs has cut their Chinese GDP forecast to 9.4% (2011) and 9.2% (2012), from 10% and 9.5% respectively. They raised their CPI forecasts for the region to 4.7% from 4.3%. They cut their S&P/ASX 200 forecast from 5600 to 5125 for 2011. ASX 200 now 4624.
  • Lend Lease Group (LLC) has agreed to sell its 50% interest in the King of Prussia shopping mall in the US to the Morgan Stanley Prime Property Fund for $US545m. They are expected to book a profit of $US100m on the sale and will use the money to repay debt in the UK. LLC up 0.4%.
  • Wesfarmers (WES) has cut its forecast for sales of metallurgical coal from its Curragh mine in Queensland. They now expect between 5.1m and 5.4m tons in the year to June 30, down from previous forecasts at the lower end of a 5.8m-6.2m ton range. They continue to struggle with water in mining areas and unseasonal rainfall. WES down 35c to 3275c.
  • Ruralco Holdings (RHL) – first half profit up 31.5% to $10.23m, from $7.78m a year earlier. CEO John Maher has a cautiously optimistic outlook, seeing favourable market conditions across rural supplies, livestock and wool, grain marketing and financial services. RHL up 1.9%.
  • Thorn Group (TGA) full year results – net profit up 13% in the year to March 31. They predicted a “substantial” increase in earnings in the current year. Declared a full year dividend of 4.95c, fully franked, bringing the total dividend for the year to 8.49c. Value investors Roger Montgomery and Stock Doctor both consider it quality stock. TGA up 6.1%.
  • Campbell Brothers (CPB) full year results today. Underlying NPAT up 75.6% to $132.2m on a 34.3% lift in revenue. Guidance for $130-134m, was recently upgraded from $120-130m. CPB down 1% to 4513c.
  • Stocks hitting 52-week lows today: AIO, BBG, BFG, CUS, HIL, HVN, JBH, MCR, MYR, PLA, TOL

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