The market is up 23. The SFE Futures were up 9 this morning.

The Dow Jones closed up 64 overnight. Was up 93 and down 22 at the extremes. Jobless claims a bit weak and housing permits a bit better than expected. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey fell unexpectedly. European stocks fell to three-month lows as Greek debt issues continue. The oil price was up 14c to $94.95 and the gold price was up $3.70 to $1529.20. The Aussie dollar rose to 105.67 from 105.56c.

In the news today…

  • Woodside Petroleum (WPL) has pushed back the start-up date of its Pluto LNG project in Western Australia by 3 months to March 2012. They say the delay will add $900m to the total cost, which is now expected to be $14.9bn. WPL down 112c to 4129c.
  • India’s Tata Steel said it will sell its 26.27% holding in Riversdale Mining (RIV) to Rio Tinto (RIO) for $1.06bn. The sale will give Rio Tinto complete control over Riversdale. They first offered to buy the company in December. RIO up 43c to 7883c, RIV unchanged at 1650c.
  • Gloucester Coal (GCL) has received FIRB approval for its planned acquisitions of 2 NSW coal companies. Gloucester wants to acquire Donaldson Coal Holdings and Monash Group as they attempt to become Australia’s largest coal miner worth about $2bn. They still have to find some of the funds for the $600m deals – a recent issue at 900c raised $230m. GCL up 1.5% to 817c.
  • Telstra (TLS) says a report in The Australian saying Telstra “was last night expected to sign a $9bn deal with NBN Co” was incorrect. A deal is still thought to be imminent. TLS up 1c to 305c.
  • Magellan Petroleum is challenging Santos (STO) over a $15m deposit after the sale of a stake in the Evans Shoal gas field collapsed. Magellan said they “do not accept Santos’ assertion that “Santos will also retain a $15m non-refundable deposit paid by Magellan”. STO down 0.7%.
  • Hastie Group (HST) has emerged from a trading halt after its announcement of a $160m equity raising which will be used to repay up to $146m of bank debt. HST down 12.1% to 14.5c.
  • According to GSJB Were the NAB and ANZ are looking attractive. Currently trading on FY11e P/B of 1.4x and 1.6x respectively. NAB up 26c to 2452, ANZ up 13c to 21478c.
  • Metcash (MTS) ex dividend on Monday 16c…it is a high yielding stock. MTS up 1% to 411c.
  • Stocks hitting 52-week highs today: BKW, BOL, EAU, GDY, HST, IRN, NDO, SLX.

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