Wall Street hasn't given any cues to our market with US equities ending flat and commodities finishing mixed in overnight trade.
The Greek parliament has reportedly passed contentious new legislation in support of tough austerity measures demanded by European leaders to keep the bankrupt country in the Eurozone, while the US Federal Reserve talked up expectations of an interest rate rise later this year.
The futures market is tipping a flat start for the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) this morning and it's probably time for a breather anyway given the index's stellar 3% rally over the past two days.
Our obsession with iron ore goes unabated and investors will be relieved to see the price of the commodity jump 1% to $US50.55 a tonne. Citigroup believes we need a price of at least $US50 a tonne for Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) and BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) to keep paying dividends without the need to leverage their balance sheet.
Rio Tinto will also be in the spotlight after it released its second quarter production figures, which shows a 9% increase in iron ore production to 79.7 million tonnes for the period compared to the June 2014 quarter.
Other resource companies that will post quarterly results today include coal producer WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED (ASX: WHC), mineral sands miner Iluka Resources Limited (ASX: ILU) and oil & gas giant Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL).
Woodside had better have pleasing news to release as it's not going to be a pleasant day for the sector with the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil price tanking 3.1% to $US51.41 a barrel.
Outside of resources, rail freight operator Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ) said that it has hauled 211.2 million tonnes of coal in 2014-15, which is in-line with guidance, while New Zealand dairy processor FONTERRA ORD UNIT (ASX: FSF) could come under pressure after analysts at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) warned that its 2015-16 milk payment may drop below $NZ4.
There's also plenty happening on the merger and acquisition (M&A) front. Consumer financing company FlexiGroup Limited (ASX: FXL) is offering around $285 million for Fisher & Paykel's consumer finance division, and utility DUET Group (ASX: DUE) is interested in bidding for Vector Gas assets, reports The Australian.
Insurer QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE) has sold its Mortgage & Lender Services business in North America for around $90 million and it will book a loss of around $120 million in connection with the transaction in its 2014-15 accounts.
Shareholders in medical centre operator Primary Health Care Limited (ASX: PRY) better hang on tight. The stock is expected to come under pressure after management posted a profit downgrade after the market closed yesterday.
Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) is expected to come in at around $400 million for 2014-15 compared with its previous guidance of $410 million to $425 million.
Ouch!
