The market is down 53. ASX 200 Futures were down 13 this morning.

Breaking news — Chinese GDP numbers have come in at a disappointing 7.7% annualised — down from 7.9% and below the 8.0% expected. The market has just dropped 20 points in 15 minutes.

Dow Jones was down 75 at worst on Friday but managed to recover and close flat on average volumes. European markets were down on Friday. There are concerns that Cyprus may need more bail-out funds.

US retail sales were down 0.4% in March (biggest fall in nine months), missing the forecast of +1.0%. Core sales fell 0.2%. PPI was down 0.6% in March while core prices were up 0.2%. Consumer sentiment fell to a nine-month low of 72.3 in April, down from 78.6.

Gold was down $63.50 to $1501.40 and had its worst week this year finishing down $74.50 or 4.73%. This breaks strong technical support at $1550 and sees the metal down 20% from the peak and now in a bear market.

Metals down — copper down 2.69%, nickel down 2.57%, zinc down 2.06% aluminium down 2.45%. Oil was down $2.22 to $91.29. Silver was down $1.40 to $26.30.

  • Chinese GDP data out today — Consensus was for GDP to have risen to 8% from 7.9% – it came in at 7.7%.
  • Housing finance approvals increase by 2.0% in March, which was above the consensus forecast of 1.5%.
  • Norfolk Group (NFK) and RCR Tomilson (RCR) have finished weeks of negotiations and have agreed to a takeover offer at 48c. NFK is down 7.92% to 46.5c.
  • Fairfax Media (FXJ) — Gina Rinehart dominated trade in the stock last Friday. Her broker, Morgan Stanley, was responsible for 76.9% of the day’s 41.2 million shares traded, which included one trade of 30 million shares worth 1.3% of the company. Sources say that she is more likely to be a seller than a buyer. Rinehart has/had a 14.9% stake in the company. FXJ is flat at 62c.
  • APA Group (APA 617c) — Has reached a deal to sell its Moomba to Adelaide Pipeline to QIC for $400.6 million. The deal is subject to ACCC approval. APA is up 0.65% to 621c.
  • Woodside Petroleum (WPL 3640c) — Last week announced the shelving of its $45 billion Browse LNG project in WA. Recommendations remain mixed on the stock this morning and some target prices are up slightly. Brokers are now seeing the possibility of higher and more reliable dividends going forward. WPL is down 0.11% to 3636c.