The market is up 42. SFE Futures were up 27 this morning.

Dow Jones up 128. The Dow was up 132 at best. The Dow opened on a higher note on reports that Spain may be willing to ask for access to precautionary credit from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). The reports were followed by comments out of Germany which suggested the country’s officials believe additional hurdles remain in Spain and that Greece is far from reaching an agreement with the Troika on its next bailout tranche. On the flip side the IMF are saying that Greece are close to meeting austerity measures needed to trigger the next tranche of their bailout.

US markets continued to rally throughout the session with CPI numbers coming in better then expected at +0.6% for September and some strong third quarter company earnings reports.

Germany Reportedly Open to Spain Getting Precautionary Credit Line: Reports that Germany was open to Spain taking on a precautionary credit line from the ESM also helped sentiment. Such a move would represent a softening of German resistance to a full sovereign bailout for Spain — German Finance Minister Schaeuble has regularly cautioned Spain against seeking “no strings attached” aid on top of its bank bailout. German Chancellor Merkel amped up her praise of Greek reform efforts and Schaeuble reaffirmed Germany’s commitment to a so called banking union.

Metals mixed — Copper up 0.33%, Nickel down 0.98%, Aluminium down 0.28% and Zinc down 0.92%. The spot iron ore price down 40c to $112.60.

  • BHP Billiton (BHP) – 1st quarter production numbers – Much in line with maintained guidance for a small increase in FY iron ore production. Petroleum production was up 19%, Copper was down 24%, Lead production was down 6%, Zinc production up 11%, Uranium production was up 4% and Silver production was steady. Iron ore output rose 1% on the year to 39.77m tones. BHP is up 1.21% to 3347c.
  • Tabcorp Holdings (TAH) — 1st quarter trading update — posted a 2.4% fall in first quarter revenue to $384.6 million. The company said the fall was due to the new terms of its Victorian wagering and betting licence which came into effect in August. TAH is up 0.35% to 290c.
  • Stockland (SGP) – AGM – Has issued a profit warning amid what they call the worst new housing market in Australia in more than 20 years. The company expects profit in the residential business to be around A$50 million lower than last year with a potential downside of a further $30 million if conditions in Victoria do not improve. The company maintained a 24c dividend for FY13. SGP is down 3.66% to 342c.
  • CSL — AGM — CSL will buy back up to $900m or 4% of shares over the next 12 months. The company says trading is consistent with expectations and re-affirmed guidance that fiscal 2013 profit would grow around 12%. CSL posted a profit of $982.6m in the 2011/12 financial year, up 4.5%. CSL is up 2.37% to 4782c.
  • Ten Network (TEN) says the sale of their Eye Corp outdoor advertising business has been terminated by the prospective buyer. TEN struck a deal in July to sell the business to Champ Private Equity for $145 million. TEN is down 7.46% to 31c

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