The market is down seven points.

The Dow Jones was up eight points at 15,802 — the market dipped early in the day and drifted higher in a narrow 65 point range.

Stocks were mixed and the tone was cautious ahead of Janet Yellen’s testimony to the House of Representatives on Tuesday and the Senate on Thursday, where she will explain the Fed’s monetary policy and shed light on the pace of tapering. There was no economic data.

The S&P rose three points to 1800.

Oil was up 0.12%at US$100.00.

Gold rose US$12.10 to US$1275.00 per ounce.

The US$ was mixed against most major currencies. The Australian dollar was weaker and is currently trading at US89.47c.

VIX Volatility index fell 0.20% to 15.26.

US treasury markets were stronger — the yield on the 10 year bond fell one basis point to 2.676%.

European shares were mixed — the FTSE rose 0.30% and the French CAC rose 0.21% but the German DAX fell 0.13%.

European bonds were weaker — the yield on the Euro 10 year bond rose 2 basis points to 1.679% and the UK 10 year bond yield was one basis point higher at 2.717%.

Base metal prices were generally weaker — zinc fell 1.17%, aluminium fell 1.10% and copper was down 0.74% but nickel rose 0.45%.

Iron ore fell US$0.10 to US$120.80 a tonne.

STORIES

  • Forge Group (FGE) — In yet another trading halt. The company has been advised that their financiers have withdrawn support for the company.
  • ANZ — First quarter profit of $1.73 billion up 13% — it is a quarterly update not a ‘result’ as such so no dividend. They have gained market share. They have also announced another $1 billion hybrid issue for ‘general corporate purposes’. Provisions expected to drop 10% this year as loan book quality improves.
  • Toyota shares up 1.59% on the news it is pulling out of Australia. Nissan reported its biggest profit rise in two years.
  • David Jones (DJS) finally caves in to public (Institutional shareholder) opinion and sacks the two directors that bought shares after the Myer approach and the Chairman Peter Mason who approved the trades. It’s not really an issue that should upset the share price and quite honestly, hasn’t. The stock is in uptrend. There is speculation that the shake-up will lead to outgoing chief executive Paul Zahra staying on.
  • Macquarie Group (MQG) — It has reiterated guidance saying full year profit in fiscal 2013 will be an improvement on the previous year, so long as market conditions remain stable. CEO Nicholas Moore said “Consistent with our previous statement to the market, while market volatility makes forecasting difficult, we continue to expect the fiscal 2014 net profit contribution from operating groups to be up on fiscal 2013. In line with previous years, it is currently expected that the second half result will be stronger than the first half.”
  • Cochlear (COH) — first half profit was down 73% to $21 million. Interim dividend of 127c. Total revenue was down 5% to $371.1m. COH has also downgraded full year profit guidance, now expects $70-80 million.