The market is down 2 on tiny volumes — less than $1 billion traded at midday. SFE Futures were down 13 this morning.

Dow Jones up 2. The Dow was up 75 at best, down 30 at worst and managed to end the day with a minor gain. Some economic data came in better than expected. US producer prices up 1.1% and consumer sentiment hit a five year high of 83.1 up from 78.3.

The US results season saw mixed earnings reports from some major financials. Wells Fargo (WFC) was down 2.6% after reporting flat earnings; WFC (the largest mortgage lender in the US) beat earnings expectations by 1c, whilst their revenue fell $200 million short of estimates. JP Morgan finished down 1.1% after they reported a record 3Q earnings of 140c per share against expectations of 121c. Revenues were $25.15 billion which was ahead of the expected $24.27 billion. Bank of America and Morgan Stanley were down 2.4% and 3.1% in the wake of their figures. Over the week the Dow Jones was down 2.1%, S&P 500 down 2.2% and the Nasdaq was down 2.9%.

China’s trade surplus came in better than expected on Friday with their September surplus of $27.7 billion, with exports stronger than expected and imports in line with expectations.

Metals down – Copper down 1.34%, Nickel down 3.66%, Aluminium down 1.19% and Zinc down 1.65%. Copper locking in its biggest weekly loss in around three months, as markets fretted over signs of slowing scrap-metal purchases and disappointing September Chinese bank lending stats. According to Metalsco, scrap discounts to new metal in the copper market have widened by 25% over the past quarter.

  • Total Housing finance increased by 1.8% in August in line with consensus estimate of 1.5%.
  • Sales of new motor vehicles in Australia rose by 4.7% to 98,701 beating analyst’s expectations of a 3% rise.
  • Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) has managed to complete the sub distribution of their US$5 billion debt facility which will help them restart mine development should iron ore prices continue to recover. FMG upgraded their facility to US$5 billion last month from US$4.5 billion to pay off existing loans and provide a liquidity buffer. FMG is down 2.6% to 375c.
  • NEXTDC (NXT) has announced key appointments to their leadership team to accommodate the company’s continuing growth. Paul Jobbins has been appointed as its new CFO effective today. Tanya Mangold has been appointed as their Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary effective today. NXT is down 1.43% to 207c.
  • Cochlear (COH) – Shareholders have been urged to vote against the company’s plans to grant an additional 231,161 options to CEO Chris Roberts, in a year when company profits fell 70% and they were forced to conduct a $101.3 million product recall. COH is flat at 7118c.
  • TEN Network Holdings (TEN) – Proceeds from the sale of their outdoor advertising business Eye Corp to private equity group CHAMP may be a lot lower than expected. TEN is due to report their FY result on Thursday. TEN is down 4% to 35c

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