The market is unchanged this morning although BHP’s on its own has knocked 20 points off the ASX 200. The SFE Futures were up 17 this morning.

Wall Street closed up 103 overnight. The S&P 500 had its biggest gain in two weeks and the Dow was up as much as 178 at one stage on positive results and OK economic data. Potash rejected an unsolicited takeover offer from BHP Billiton. Metals mostly up on the LME overnight, oil price put on $1.06 to $76.30 and Gold up $2 to $1228.20. The Aussie dollar is again above 90c — now at 90.52c.

Results today…

  • Woodside Petroleum (WPL) — Beats analysts’ expectations — Announced a 1st H net profit of $US901m. 1st H underlying profit was up 25.9% to $US813m. WPL up 48c to 4353c.
  • Westfield Group (WDC) – Net profit ahead of expectations — Operational earnings for the half came in at $1.03bn, down 2.6% from $1.057bn last year but ahead of broker expectations. WDC up 25c to 1255c.
  • CSL Ltd (CSL) — Full year net profit fell 8% to $1.08bn from $1.15bn largely due to a foreign exchange impact of $187m. It was in line with expectations. Growth continues to be an issue with CSL. The stock is down 2.6% to 3193c.
  • APN News & Media (APN) — Below expectations — Net profit for the half increased 4.9% to $39m from $33.6m. Analysts on average were expecting $52.2m. APN down 8.29% to 188c.
  • Boral (BLD) — In line with expectations — Reported an underlying FY10 net profit of $131.6m (excluding writedowns) within its guidance range of $123.5m-$132m. Analysts on average expected $133.3m. BLD down 4c to 436c.
  • The Reject Shop (TRS) has beaten guidance, reporting sales of $470.8m, up 14.2% from last year. Profit grew 22.9% on last year to $23.4m. TRS up 1.8% to 1670c.

In other news today…

  • BHP Billiton (BHP) has launched an unsolicited $US38.6bn ($42bn) takeover offer for Potash Corp, the world’s largest fertilizer maker. BHP is offering $130 a share, a 16% premium to Potash’s last closing price. The market seems to prefer the idea of a buyback with BHP down 3.5% to 3880c.
  • Photon Group (PGA) has finally resumed trading today after a 2 month plus trading halt. Down 90.2% to 10c. They raised $102.5m at 10c through an underwritten equity issue.
  • David Jones (DJS) — 4th Q sales up 7.3% and like-for-like sales were up 1.7%. Considered a solid result considering their rival MYER said 4th Q sales fell 1.4% and like-for-like sales fell 0.9%. DJS up 10c to 505c.

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