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Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX), BHP Billiton Limited (ASX:BHP), Rio Tinto plc (ADR) (NYSE:RIO)

BHP Billiton Limited (ASX:BHP), Rio Tinto plc (ADR) (NYSE:RIO) are worth buying today as they get sold off, demand for their products is and will remain strong, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX) is a different story, despite the positive spin they are putting on their Indonesia problems what we are hearing is different, they will be operating under a new cost structure this year.

S&P 500 futures expiring in June lost 0.6 percent to 1,389.7 at 7:32 a.m. in New York. The benchmark measure slid 0.2 percent yesterday on concern that its best first quarter since 1998 has outpaced prospects for the economy. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 60 points, or 0.5 percent, to 13,006 today.

A Chinese manufacturing index indicated a worse contraction this month, bolstering the case for Premier Wen Jiabao to add measures to sustain growth even as he prolongs a campaign to cool property prices.

Economist Shayne Heffernan said today “This is not unusual in China given the Chinese New Year and the strength of the Chinese economy, the China New Year that just passed seen record numbers of people returning home for the holidays, this of course means record numbers of business closures for the holiday, and a lower manufacturing result.”

China’s economy is recovering, according to two central bank surveys of bankers and company executives released this week. Respondents’ expectations improved for market demand and export orders, while more bankers said monetary policy will tend to be looser next quarter, the central bank said.

Asian stocks pared gains and oil and copper fell as the report added to concerns about a deeper slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy. Wen this month pledged pre-emptive fine- tuning of fiscal and monetary policies to support growth after increases in gross domestic product slowed in 2011.

The preliminary 48.1 reading in a purchasing managers’ index from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics today is the lowest since November and compares with a final 49.6 in February. A result below 50 indicates a contraction.

Improving prospects for China’s exports have prompted economists from Nomura Holdings Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG to raise their 2012 growth forecasts. Nomura increased its estimate to 8.2 percent from 7.9 percent and Deutsche Bank boosted its projection to 8.6 percent from 8.3 percent.

Wen set a 7.5 percent growth target for 2012, lower than the 8 percent annual goal in place since 2005, as he aims to tilt the nation’s growth toward consumption from capital spending and exports.

A separate release today showed manufacturing output in the euro area also shrank in March. A euro-area index based on a survey of purchasing managers in the industry dropped to 47.7 from 49 in February, London-based Markit Economics said in an initial estimate today. Economists had forecast a gain to 49.5.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SXXP) retreated 1.1 percent to 265.74 at 11:12 a.m. in London, the lowest since March 13. The gauge has still gained 8.7 percent this year as the European Central Bank disbursed 1 trillion euros ($1.3 trillion) to the region’s lenders and U.S. economic data surpassed estimates. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures slipped 0.5 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.3 percent.

Shayne Heffernan

Shayne Heffernan oversees the management of funds for institutions and high net worth individuals.

Shayne Heffernan holds a Ph.D. in Economics and brings with him over 25 years of trading experience in Asia and hands on experience in Venture Capital, he has been involved in several start ups that have seen market capitalization over $500m and 1 that reach a peak market cap of $15b. He has managed and overseen start ups in Mining, Shipping, Technology and Financial Services.

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