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Market:	ASX
Sector:	General Mining
EPIC:	.

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Dow Jones and NASDAQ rally to the close; ArcelorMittal, BP, Coca Cola in focus

Wednesday, February 08, 2012 by Proactive Investors

The ASX will look to open stronger this morning as overseas equities continue to rally. Providing a boost to mining stocks, spot gold leapt overnight to US$1750 an ounce.

U.S. equity markets reversed earlier losses Tuesday afternoon as Greece reportedly neared accord on budget cuts and US job openings rose.

A Labor Department report had job openings rising to 3.38 million in December from 3.12 million the month before.

By the close the Dow Jones had added 41 points to 12,886, with the NASDAQ creeping two points higher to 2904.

Greece is attempting to reach a deal on budget cuts and financial reforms necessary for a second bailout package of 130 billion euros from the EU, IMF and European Central Bank.

The country failed to come to an agreement over the weekend, with talks continuing into this week. Without the deal, and the bailout funds, Greece will miss a 14.5 billion euro bond payment in March, which would likely lead to a disorderly default, sparking a potential disaster for the global financial system.

Negotiations have been dragged out due to disagreements over private-sector wage cuts, and other issues. However, traders are more optimistic after news reports suggest that progress with negotiations is being made.

Prime Minister Lucas Papademos is meeting Tuesday with leaders from Greece's main political parties to discuss additional unpopular austerity measures. According to the FT, Papademos has submitted a "final draft" of the terms of the bailout to party leaders, who are set to decide on the measures later Tuesday.

In corporate news, the Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) saw its fourth quarter profits beat Street estimates on Tuesday, as it ramps up its cost-savings initiatives. Adjusted earnings during the quarter rose ten percent to $0.79 per share, topping analysts' $0.77 per share estimate, according to Thomson Reuters.

Steel giant ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) Tuesday posted a fourth-quarter net loss for the last quarter of 2011 but predicted better results in 2012 due to its global presence and growing mining segment.

For the quarter that ended December 31, net loss widened to $1 billion compared to a $780 million loss in the same quarter of 2010.

Oil giant BP (NYSE:BP)(LON:BP) Tuesday posted increased fourth-quarter earnings and raised its dividend.

For the three months ended December 31, BP reported a profit of $7.69 billion, up 38 percent from the $5.57 billion posted a year earlier. Revenue was up 15% at $96.3 billion.

Walt-Disney (NYSE:DIS) is due to report after the closing bell.

On the economic front, the Federal Reserve will release the consumer credit report for December at 3 pm EDT.

Economists expect the report to show that consumer credit expanded by $8.5 billion in December, much smaller than November's $20.4 billion expansion.

Commodities

In NYMEX futures trading, crude for March delivery rose $1.56 to $98.63 a barrel while gold for April delivery rose $15.10 to $1,740.00 an ounce.

Europe

European markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The CAC 40 gained 0.18%, while the DAX in Germany fell 0.16% and Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.03%.

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