The market is down 23. The SFE Futures were down 21 this morning.

Wall St. up 14 overnight. The Dow was up 80 at best and down 30 at worst. Metals were weaker, the oil price put on 87c to $79.55c and Gold fell $7.40 to $1035. The Aussie dollar also increased to 91.66c versus 91.61c yesterday morning. Consumer Confidence index fell further than expected in October to its second lowest reading since May.

Making the news today….

  • Consumer Price Index has come in at +1.0%, slightly above economists expectations of +0.9%, and core CPI measured in at +0.8%, above expectations of 0.7%. The figure might be enough to support a rise in interest rates by 25bps, but not strong enough to suggest a 50bps movement.
  • National Australia Bank (NAB) — down 1.47% despite its result coming in at the high end of expectations. Cash earnings fell 1.9% to $3.8bn, beating analysts’ average forecast of $3.74bn. Forecasts ranged from $3.552bn to $3.96bn.
  • Macquarie Media Group (MMG) has decided to internalize its management. It will pay Macquarie Group (MQG) $40.5m for management rights, and will simplify its capital structure by converting to a single holding company. MMG also plans to raise $294m through a underwritten entitlement offer at 155c a share to help pay down debt, a huge discount to yesterdays closing price of 250c. MMG is the latest Macquarie satellite to internalize its management, following Macquarie Airports (MAP) and Macquarie Infrastructure Group (MIG).
  • NO SURPRISES — Telstra (TLS) have an investor day today and have released an announcement on earnings guidance. The bottom line is they have reiterated previous earnings guidance. The initial comments are “No surprises”. TLS up 5c to 330c.
  • Boral Ltd (BLD) announced its 1Q earnings were above its expectations at its AGM. Says 2H FY10 activity levels should be stronger than 1H but market conditions remain uncertain. Adds it’s too early to forecast expected earnings outcomes for fiscal 2010. Price down 4.5% to 582c.
  • Origin Energy (ORG) says 1Q output was in line with the June Q and that revenue was down 26% to $146.2m. Adds that its coal seam gas developments are progressing well. The stock is up 8.59% in the past Q. ORG down 3c to 1589c.
  • CSR Ltd (CSR) down 2% after coming out of its trading halt following the completion of its entitlement offer. CSR down 3.37% to 187.5c.
  • Webjet (WEB) announced it is experiencing better-than-expected growth in TTV, over 50% higher compared to the same time last year. WEB hits a fresh yearly high on the back of the announcement. WEB up 11% to 196c.
  • FIRB has approved the Brookfield Investment in Babcock & Brown Infrastructure (BBI).

The Dow Futures were up 5 at 12:30pm

MARCUS PADLEY is the author of the MARCUS TODAY Daily Stockmarket Newsletter.

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