The market is down 8. The SFE Futures were up 5 this morning.

The Dow closed up 6 — it was up 37 at best down 24 at worst. Dow is now up 100% from the March 2003 low. NASDAQ at an 11 year high. Market driven by the news of Apple paying a dividend — another sign that cash is busting out of corporate balance sheets. 9 out of 10 sectors up. The gold price was up $11.50 to $1667.30. Oil was up $1.03 to $108.09 a barrel. The Aussie dollar was down buying 106.09¢.

Main points:

  • TPG Telecom (TPM) 1st H profit of $55.7m above an expected $53.3m. EBITDA was up 17% to $131.9m above a consensus estimate of $126.4m. Interim dividend of 2.75c. Organic subscriber growth in consumer broadband continued to be driven by TPG’s award winning ADSL2+ with Home Phone bundle plans which grew by 49,000 bundle subscribers during the half year. TPM has re-affirmed FY12 guidance EBITADA of $250-$260m.
  •  Sundance (SDL) has signed an MOU with Equatorial REsoruces (EQX) regarding opportunities for sharing iron ore infrastructure. The MOU examines how Equatorial can utilise the rail and port infrastructure associated with Sundance’s MBalam/Nabeba iron ore project in W. Africa. SDL unchanged at 41c.
  • Sydney Airport (SYD) has released its Traffic Performance report for Feb. International passenger numbers grew 3.2% and continues to benefit from a strong Aussie dollar. Domestic passenger numbers were down 1.1%. Overall total passenger numbers were up 0.4%.
  • Westpac Bank (WBC) and Commonwealth Bank (CBA) have announced plans to develop UK-style social bonds to attract private funds into preventative programs aimed at reducing taxpayer funded foster care for young criminals returning from prison. This is the first of its kind to be introduced in Australia. Investors make a return if the community programs they fund deliver improved social outcomes providing savings to the government.
  • David Jones (DJS) was placed in trading halt yesterday in reaction to a story published in the AFR which revealed the retailer was set to confirm market fears of a 50% decline in earnings from financial services when they report tomorrow (20% of profit). The company’s credit card earnings are expected to plunge.
  • Guildford Coal (GUF) is expected to bring on a large Hong Kong institutional investor as part of its $25m capital raising to fund its Mongolian operations. Company is in trading halt ahead of the proposed issue.

The RBA released minutes of its policy meeting saying it is sticking with its view that the economy will continue to progress, but acknowledges uncertainties clouding the outlook and notes there is room to lower interest rates if necessary.

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