The market is up 9 having been up 22 first thing. It was up 44 yesterday on the back of the slightly unexpected RBA rate cut. SFE Futures were up 17 this morning.

Dow Jones down 33. The Dow was down 90 at worst and up 52 at best. No major economic or corporate announcements (just new vehicle sales that were better than expected). Defensive stocks outperformed. The Greek market was up 4.91% with some banks up 10%.

The main event was the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy ruling out an imminent bailout around noon. Recent speculation about a bailout this week had lifted markets yesterday. Rajoy said at a news conference: “If a news agency reports that we’ll ask for aid this weekend, there can only be two explanations: that the agency is right, and knows more than I do, which is possible, or that they are not right, but if it helps, and you accept that what I say is more important than this leak, I say no (we won’t ask for aid this weekend).”

Mosaic Co lost 3.88% after reporting earnings that fell short of analyst expectations thanks to weak Chinese demand raising concerns about earnings at China exposed companies.

Metals mixed — Copper up 0.30%, Nickel down 1.49%, Aluminium down 0.89% and Zinc down 0.51%. The spot iron ore price was unchanged at $104.20. Oil down 76c to $91.72. This week’s American Petroleum Institute data revealed higher crude inventories levels and it would appear that US East Coast gasoline supplies have picked up over recent times as refineries restart and units are returned to operations after repairs.

Best sectors — Health Care, Utilities, Consumer Staples. Worst sectors — Materials, Energy, Consumer Discretionary.

  • Australia’s trade deficit widened in August, the balance of goods and services was a deficit of $2.03 billion. Economists had expected a deficit of $670 million in August.
  • The AIG/CBA performance of services index (PSI) fell 0.5 points to 41.9 in September. A reading below 50 indicating contraction.
  • The HIA new home sales index fell by 5.3% in August, after a 5.6% drop in July. By state, new house sales dropped 9.4% in WA, 7% in NSW, 8.6% in Victoria, 2.9% in Queensland, 2.6% in SA.
  • Boart Longyear (BLY) — Craig Kipp has terminated his tenure as chief executive and will leave the mining-services business immediately. Chairman David McLemore will serve as acting CEO while a search for a replacement gets under way. BLY is down 1.37% to 163c.
  • APN News & Media Limited (APN) has responded to media speculation that sent the share price up 25% yesterday. The company confirms that its NZ strategic review is ongoing with nothing to announce at this stage. APN is down 8.8% to 39c

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