The market is up 21. SFE Futures were up 16 this morning.

Dow Jones was up 60. The Dow was down 36 at worst and up 63 at best as fiscal cliff discussions continued in Washington and US economic data was slightly better than expected. Republican Speaker John Boehner said that the President and the Democrats have not done enough to avoid falling off the fiscal cliff. Boehner touted his proposal, which narrowly passed a House of Representatives vote after the market close in the US but will be vetoed by the White House. Gold, Metals and US bond yields all down. US September quarter GDP came in at 3.1% which was better than the forecast of +2.8% and the previous reading 2.7%. Jobless claims were up by 17,000 to 361,000 last week. The Philadelphia Fed business activity index was up from -10.7 to +8.1 in November which was better than the forecast of -3.0. Existing home sales were up by 5.9% to 5.04 million units — the fastest pace in three years. Best sectors — financials, telecoms, materials. Worst sectors — technology, consumer discretionary. European markets mixed — UK FTSE down 0.05%, German DAX up 0.05%, France up 0.06%, Spain flat, Italy up 0.41%. The FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.1%. Metals down — copper down 1.96%, nickel down 0.98%, aluminium down 1.09%, lead down 0.63%.

  • Origin Energy (ORG) — Has agreed to sell part of their future oil production for $US300 million to help boost their balance sheet and avoid an equity raising following a recent earnings downgrade. ORG will sell oil and condensate production from their Australian east coast and New Zealand assets from 2015. ORG is up 0.26% to 1174c.
  • Boart Longyear (BLY) — In November the company said they would reduce overhead costs by 20% on the back of weaker earnings. Today BLY says they have implemented cuts which have resulted in the loss of 2,500 jobs. The company has also moved their manufacturing operations from Perth to Poland and other overseas locations to help save on costs. BLY remains on track to meet their FY earnings guidance which was cut in November to $US310-$US320 million. BLY is up 9.65% to 187.5c.
  • Dexus Property Group (DXS) — Has announced the acquisition of interests in a portfolio of three Sydney office properties including the purchase of one property jointly with DEXUS Wholesale Property Fund (DWPF). The total consideration for the Sydney portfolio is $503.7 million. DXS has also gone ex-dividend 2.89c. DXS is down 3.79% to 101.5c.
  • Qantas Airways (QAN.AU) — Says their load factors increased in November on the back of a better performing international unit. The group’s load factor for the month, which also takes into account the distances flown by passenger, rose by 0.5% from a year earlier to 80%. QAN is up 2.05% to 149.5c

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