NAB's interim higher

Good morning, the main market related news from the past 24 hours was the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting which was no change to current settings. The Fed noted that it expects the current slowdown in the US economy to be temporary and that fundamentals behind consumption and growth remain solid.

The local market traded lower yesterday lead by weakness in the banking and resources sectors. Vocus shares were hit hard after the company updated shareholders on its profit outlook, downgrading the forecast due to issues including revenue delays, weaker earnings and delays on major projects. Vocus runs Dodo and iprimus.

Stock indices were mixed yesterday with our market faring the worst closing down by 1%. US indices are generally flattish leading into a similar start to our trading day. The US interest bond curve pushed up, flattening from the shirt end following the Fed’s announcement. 10 year government notes are trading at 2.32%, up 4 basis points on this time yesterday. Our curve is unchanged from yesterday with 10’s at 2.59%. Base metals are all sharply lower to the tune of between 2% and 3.5% with copper faring the worst closing down USD202 at USD5,600 per tonne.

NAB reports this morning with analysts expecting a small rise in interim profit, in fact as I type the headlines are hitting the wires – cash profit up 2.3% at $3.29 billion and the dividend is steady at 99 cents per share. Seems a reasonable result but the devil will be in the detail.

Kind regards

Alex