The market is down 64. ASX 200 Futures were down 18 this morning. The Dow finished down 76 last night. The Dow was down 153 at worst and up 51 at best. US YonY chain store sales were up 2.9% in the latest week, up from 2.7%.

According to the Redbook of Research., the trade deficit widened from US$37.13 billion to US$40.29 billion in April. Kansas City Federal Reserve president Esther George reiterated her support to slow the pace of bond purchases. George has voted against the bond buying program at every meeting this year.

Best sectors — telecom. Worst sectors — energy, healthcare, industrials.

European markets up — UK FTSE up 0.51%, Germany up 0.12%, France up 0.13%, Spain up 0.95%, Italy up 0.45%. 

Metals up — copper up 1.24%, nickel up 2.70%, aluminium up 0.69%, zinc up 1.30%. Spot iron ore was up $4.70 to $ 116.90. Gold was down $13.00 to $1398.90. The Reserve Bank of India extended its restriction on gold imports.

ANNOUNCEMENTS & STORIES

  • First-quarter GDP growth came in slightly below expectations: 0.6% vs consensus of 0.7% and 2.5% vs 2.7% annually.
  • The AIG/CBA Performance of Services Index (PSI) fell 3.5 points to 40.6 with a reading below 50 showing the sector is contracting.
  • ASG (AZS) — Has announced $25 million in new contracts and is in the process of finalising a further $60 million as the preferred tenderer in exclusive negotiations. The company has also indicated that it continues to expect growth in reported 2013 financial  year revenue with all contracts due for renewal expected to be re-signed. ASZ is up 19.64% to 33.5c.
  • Macmahon Holdings (MAH) — Down 14% in early trade — A unit of Glencore Xstrata PLC has terminated a contract for mining services. The contract was expected to contribute about $6m this month and $80m over the year. Macmahon is trying to find out the reasons for the termination. MAH is down 11.11% to 16c.
  • Grange Resources (GRR) — Looks set to shelve their $2.9 billion Southdown magnetite iron ore project in WA after the resignation of their boss Richard Mehan.
  • Billabong (BBG 46c) — Finished down 49.45% yesterday after announcing that the takeover discussions with Sycamore Partners have now concluded. Talks will now focus on asset sales, refinancing and a solution to an appropriate capital structure. JP Morgan has downgraded BBG to a underweight recommendation from a neutral and the target price is down 41c to 19c. BBG is unchanged on 23c.
  • Newcrest Mining (NCM 1512c) — UBS have downgraded the stock to a Sell recommendation from a Neutral with a target price of 1200c. The target price is down 600c post the company’s recent guidance update. The stock is down 31.7% this year. Stock is looking expensive on a PE of 19.1x and a -20.3% EPS forecast, low yield and low ROE. NCM is down 5.48% to 1432c.