The market is down 27. SFE Futures were down 40 this morning.

Dow Jones down 121. The Dow was down 121 at worst and up 48 at best. The Dow closed on its lows, US economic data came in better than expected but markets were still focused on the ‘fiscal cliff’ with tax increases and spending cuts projected to occur from January 1. Gold up again, US bond yields down, oil and metals regained some of their previous day’s losses. The US trade deficit narrowed from US$43.79 billion in August to US$41.55 billion in September. The forecast was a US$45 billion deficit. New claims for unemployment insurance were down from 363,000 to 355,000 last week, although the result was affected by Hurricane Sandy. Worst sectors –Energy (-1.7%), Technology (-1.5%), Basic Materials (-1.5%) and Consumer Services (-1.4%). European markets down — UK FTSE down 0.27%, German DAX down 0.39%, France down 0.06%, Spain down 0.48%, Italy down 0.64% and Greece down 3.77%. There was uncertainty about when the European Union will provide the next tranche of funds to Greece with the German finance minister saying that a decision may not be made next week. The Stoxx Europe 600 index down 0.2% with Utilities (-1.0%), Consumer Services (-0.6%) and Energy (-0.5%), (+0.2%) and Consumer Goods (+0.1%).

  • Origin Energy (ORG) — Has issued a profit downgrade and revised their guidance for 2013, down from a 10% increase to a 5%-10% increase in profit. Profit is expected to be in line with the 2012 financial year. The downgrade is due to the effect that regulatory uncertainty, particularly related to pricing decisions made by the Queensland Competition Authority was having on the ability to issue guidance. ORG is down 5.2% to 1047c.
  • Lynas Corp (LYC) — Has gone into trading halt this morning pending the announcement of a capital raising. Yesterday a Malaysian court has threw out a request by activists to suspend the company’s recently granted temporary operating license for their LAMP refinery in Malaysia. LYC is in trading halt.
  • SP AusNet (SPN) — Victorian electricity and gas distributor’s HY profit has grown by 16% due to higher electricity prices and an increase in gas volumes. Net profit in the six months to September 30 was $169m up from $146m. Revenue was up 6.5% to $884.5m. The company said “this is a result of the regulated price increases for the electricity distribution network.” Interim distribution of 4.1c. A FY distribution of 8.2c is forecast up 2.5c. SPN is up 0.24% to 105.25c.
  • RBA Statement on Monetary Policy — The RBA says Australia’s rate of economic growth is expected to slow in 2013 due to falling commodity prices and reduced mining investment. GDP figures were revised and are now expected to grow to 3% in 2013 down from 3.75% in 2012. GDP growth was previously forecast to grow between 2.75%-3.25% in 2013. CPI is now expected to reach 3.25% by June 2013, above the RBA’s target range for annual inflation of 2%-3%.
  • Chinese CPI data for October out at 12.45pm.

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