Morning market movers: 11 stocks to watch

Our market is expected to dip slightly this morning as the world waits for a resolution to Greece's debt problems but Woolworths Limited (ASX:WOW) and Slater & Gordon Limited (ASX:SGH) will also be in the spotlight today.

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Our market is in a holding pattern as the world awaits Greece striking a deal with creditors to avoid a default and commodities turned in a mixed performance in overnight trade.

The futures market is pointing to a 0.2% dip in the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) and that isn't a bad outcome given that Wall Street tumbled by close to 1% yesterday.

Iron ore miners like Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) could enjoy a second day of gains as the price of steel making ingredient jumped 1.9% to $US62.53 a tonne, although optimism towards the commodity could be short-lived with Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) the latest to predict a second half crash.

The bank is forecasting iron ore to tumble to $US47 a tonne in the earlier part of the December quarter and that'll make the Atlas Iron Limited (ASX: AGO) annual general meeting in Perth today an interesting affair.

Atlas is in a trading halt as it recapitalises its balance sheet in the wake of the weak iron ore price and its cost of production is believed to be around $US50 a tonne.

Copper miners OZ Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL) and Sandfire Resources NL (ASX: SFR) may not find much support from the 0.3% rise in the red metal to $US2.62 a pound as Credit Suisse has slashed its estimates on the mining sector and downgraded OZ Minerals to "neutral" from "outperform" and Sandfire to "underperform" from "neutral".

There's plenty happening in healthcare to keep investors busy too. Hearing implant maker Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) said US regulators have approved its latest Nucleus 6 sound processor and blood products maker CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) revealed a positive result from its SingleChain plasma study to treat Hemophilia A.

Embattled supermarket giant Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) will again be in the spotlight on reports that its cost of capital could rise as demand for its bonds wane and department store David Jones' new owners are thinking about expanding in this space.

Law firm Slater & Gordon Limited (ASX: SGH) is another that could come under more pressure on reports that UK regulators are investigating the accounting practices of Quindell. Slater & Gordon agreed to buy Quindell in March for £637 million.

But there's some light emerging in the troubled resource engineering sector that has been hit hard by the crash in commodity prices.

Bradken Limited (ASX: BKN) may get a lifeline from private equity group CHAMP to help refinance $433.8 million in debt and the Australian Financial Review reports that a deal is close.

Marine services and engineering company MMA Offshore Ltd (ASX: MRM) is also likely to find support today after it announced last evening that it has won a $100 million two-year contract with Chevron.

This sector needs all the good news it can get.

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau owns shares of Bradken, CSL Ltd. and Westpac Banking. Follow me on Twitter - https://twitter.com/brenlau The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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