The market is up 15. The SFE Futures were up 21 this morning.

The Dow Jones closed up 143 overnight. Dow up 260 at best and down 45 at worst. The Nasdaq was down 0.4% however due to a sell-off in U.S.-listed Chinese stocks on news the U.S. Justice Dept was investigating accounting irregularities at Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges. Germany voted in favour of expanding the size and scope of the €440 billion European Financial Stability Facility. Economic data was better than expected. The final reading for 2nd quarter GDP showed growth of 1.3% and initial jobless claims fell by 37,000 to 391,000 in the week ending Sept 17. Jobless benefit claims were better than expected. Metals were mixed overnight, the oil price fell $3.24 to $81.21 and Gold price fell 80c to $1617.30. The Aussie dollar reached 97.76c from 97.63c.

Today’s main stories … quiet day to finish off the week.

  • Fortescue Metals (FMG) said production was strong in the 1Q, with more than 12m metric tons of ore shopped during the quarter. Shipments (including 3rd party shipments) were the highest quarterly level achieved by the company. FMG up 19c to 464c.
  • Aquila Resources (AQA) says they have entered into a 12 month $259m corporate facility agreement. AQA up 1c to 507c.
  • CSR Ltd (CSR) has entered into an agreement to sell their 535 lot residential development site at Brendale. CSR unchanged at 234c.
  • Gloucester Coal (GCL) has received an additional 1.5m metric tons of export capacity at their Newcastle port. GCL up 4c to 671c.
  • Leighton Holdings’ (LEI) annual report has revealed that former CEO Wal King will receive a severance package which could rise to $30 million. This comes after a after a string of LEI profit downgrades since April. LEI down 4c to 1867c.
  • Goodman Fielder (GFF) completed their Institutional Entitlement Offer to raise approximately $190 million with 93% participation. The bookbuild price was 50c. GFF down 14% to 47c.
  • Programmed Maintenance (PRG) has won a $785m contract with WA’s Water Corporation. The contract was for integrated operations, maintenance and asset management services. PRG down 1c to 199c.
  • Capital city house prices continued to fall in August — the home value index recorded a seasonally adjusted fall of 0.4% in capital city home values.
  • Australia’s Federal budget deficit shrunk to $47.7 billion in 2010/11, $1.6 billion lower than the earlier forecast of $49.4 billion.
  • Stocks going ex-dividend today include: Gowing Bros (GOW) — 5.5c, Imdex (IMD) — 2.75c and Laserbond (LBL) — 0.5c

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