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Major Market Indices
The All Ordinaries had another "burst from the blocks" this morning, but again it didn't hold. The first half-hour looked great, but after that it was one-way traffic until the close (which was close to the low tick of the day) which left the index almost half a percent lower.
All Ordinaries 5-minute Intraday Chart
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders - fell by 16.90 points (-0.80%), finishing at 2084.20 points.
The major winners in the "big guns" were -
- QBE Insurance (QBE), +$0.20 (1.44%) to $14.07 on volume of 1.48 million shares;
- Woolworths (WOW), +$0.08 (0.54%) to $14.83 on volume of 1.76 million shares;
- Westfield Group (WDC), +$0.07 (0.44%) to $15.95 on volume of 2.55 million shares;
- News Corpse A (NWSLV), +$0.07 (0.31%) to $22.71 on volume of 4.79 million shares; and
- St George Bank (SGB), +$0.03 (0.12%) to $24.33 on volume of 844 thousand shares.
Meanwhile the following stocks brought up the rear:
- Amcor (AMC), -$0.76 (10.08%) to $6.78 on volume of 21.06 million shares;
- Wesfarmers (WES), -$0.91 (2.34%) to $37.93 on volume of 766 thousand shares;
- BHP Billiton (BHP), -$0.28 (1.84%) to $14.95 on volume of 15.52 million shares;
- AMP (AMP), -$0.12 (1.73%) to $6.80 on volume of 5.42 million shares; and
- Coles Myer (CML), -$0.15 (1.5%) to $9.86 on volume of 2.69 million shares.
Turns out that Amcor's CEO was involved in attempting to manipulate box prices, and may have acted illegally in doing so. Of course everyone else on the board was shocked, dismayed, horrified and knew nothing of the whole thing. What utter bullshit, if you'll pardon my lapsing into the Saxon.
Too bad - the CEO gets to bend over and take the cuts, while the Board pretends like it was duped. The once-darling of the Board was sacked, and the stock got hammered. Or, as I like to say, "it copped the buttered carrot" ("bend over... this will hurt you at least as much as it hurts me...").
Amcor (AMC) 5-minute intraday chart... OUCH!
The "little Aussie Battler" end of the market (the ASX Small Ordinaries) was the beneficiary of some "sector rotation" and only fell about a quarter-percent), the leadership was provided by -
- Metcash Trading (MTT), +$0.43 (14.63%) to $3.37 on volume of 25.08 million shares;
- Kresta Holdings (KRS), +$0.04 (7.27%) to $0.59 on volume of 1.2 million shares;
- Hardman Rsc (HDR), +$0.09 (5.7%) to $1.67 on volume of 7.52 million shares;
- Tap Oil (TAP), +$0.07 (4.12%) to $1.77 on volume of 410 thousand shares; and
- Austal Limited (ASB), +$0.07 (3.76%) to $1.93 on volume of 1.29 million shares.
Speaking of Metcash, everybody had ample opportunity (especially those who get RSS feeds) to take advantage of MTT's Share Purchase Plan which was announced here within minutes of its ASX announcement.
The plan - as always - was to purchase a number (say, "X") units of stock in MTT soon after the open (there's always an orgasm in the opening bid, so it's best to sit aside for ten minutes). Then, sell (X-1) units at some stage during the day - leaving a single unit holding, which keeps you on the register in case the SPP is worth participating in (i.e., the stock is trading at a premium to the SPP price.
As I said this morning, The Red Menace makes a habit of retaining a single unit of every small-cap stock he trades - solely to get access to SPPs. And MTT's look like it will have a decent premium. I might disagree with the way the market is pricing MTT's takeover of FOA's domestic operations, but that doesn't stop me from trying to get free money if it's just lying there.
Metcash (MTT) Intraday 5-minute Chart
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 3940.7 | -19.2 | -0.48% | 577.56m |
| XTL | S&P/ASX 20 | 2084.2 | -16.9 | -0.8% | 115.43m |
| XFL | S&P/ASX 50 | 3849.4 | -24.6 | -0.64% | 195.42m |
| XTO | S&P/ASX 100 | 3188.3 | -18.9 | -0.59% | 331.16m |
| XJO | S&P/ASX 200 | 3928.7 | -21.8 | -0.55% | 445.14m |
| XKO | S&P/ASX 300 | 3936.9 | -22.1 | -0.56% | 513.3m |
| XMD | S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 3924.8 | -11.7 | -0.3% | 135.74m |
| XSO | S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries | 2305.6 | -5.5 | -0.24% | 182.14m |
All Ordinaries Market Internals
| Advances | 154 |
| Declines | 232 |
| Advancing Volume | 182.57m |
| Declining Volume | 327.24m |
Broad Market Internals
| Indicator | Level | +/- | % |
| Advances | 428 | 34 | 8.63 |
| Declines | 464 | -69 | -12.95 |
| Unchanged | 297 | 20 | 7.22 |
| Total Traded Value | 2273 | -389 | -14.61 |
| New 52 Week Highs | 60 | 11 | 22.45 |
| New 52 Week Lows | 12 | -1 | -7.69 |
| Equity Call Option Volume | 29067 | -4265 | -12.8 |
| Equity Put Option Volume | 26714 | 3338 | 14.28 |
S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices
The top sector for the day was Consumer Staples which gained 0.41% to 5497.50 points. The sector was helped by
- Metcash Trading (MTT), +$0.43 (14.63%) to $3.37 on volume of 25.08 million shares;
- its M&A-talk spouse-to-be, Foodland (FOA), +$1.13 (4.84%) to $24.48 on volume of 3.53 million shares;
- Southcorp (SRP), +$0.02 (0.55%) to $3.66 on volume of 1.77 million shares;
- Woolworths (WOW), +$0.08 (0.54%) to $14.83 on volume of 1.76 million shares; and
- AWB (AWB), +$0.02 (0.42%) to $4.80 on volume of 891 thousand shares.
Second in the sector leadership stakes was Property Trusts which gained 0.39% to 1797.50 points. The sector leaders were -
- Valad Property (VPG), +$0.02 (1.57%) to $1.29 on volume of 1.69 million shares;
- Thakral Holdings (THG), +$0.01 (1.37%) to $0.74 on volume of 34 thousand shares;
- Galileo Shopping (GSACA), +$0.01 (1.22%) to $0.83 on volume of 1.77 million shares;
- Centro Prop (CNP), +$0.04 (0.78%) to $5.15 on volume of 729 thousand shares; and
- Stockland (SGP), +$0.04 (0.67%) to $5.98 on volume of 1.05 million shares.
The bronze today went to Consumer Discretionary which gained 0.08% to 2359.30 points. The sector was led by
- Village Road Prefs (VRLPA), +$0.05 (2.94%) to $1.75 on volume of 52 thousand shares;
- JB Hi-Fi (JBH), +$0.09 (2.39%) to $3.86 on volume of 277 thousand shares;
- Just Group (JST), +$0.05 (1.7%) to $2.99 on volume of 736 thousand shares;
- Publishing & Broadcasting (PBL), +$0.23 (1.45%) to $16.11 on volume of 1.63 million shares; and
- APN News & Media (APN), +$0.06 (1.18%) to $5.14 on volume of 1.34 million shares.
The worst-performed sector today was Materials which lost 1.64% to 6444.80 points. The sector was dragged lower by
- Amcor (AMC), -$0.76 (10.08%) to $6.78 on volume of 21.06 million shares;
- Portman Mining (PMM), -$0.24 (7.97%) to $2.77 on volume of 2.83 million shares;
- Kimberley Diamonds (KIM), -$0.04 (4.12%) to $0.93 on volume of 1.64 million shares;
- Oxiana (OXR), -$0.04 (3.85%) to $1.00 on volume of 11.01 million shares; and
- Lion Selection Group (LSG), -$0.08 (3.49%) to $2.21 on volume of 1.09 million shares.
Just in front of the last place on the sector table was Industrials which lost 1.28% to 4721.00 points. The sector was pulled down by
- Henry Walker Eltin (HWE), -$0.06 (10.91%) to $0.49 on volume of 7.61 million shares;
- United Group (UGL), -$0.23 (3.59%) to $6.18 on volume of 446 thousand shares;
- Toll Holding (TOL), -$0.38 (3.04%) to $12.12 on volume of 705 thousand shares;
- Patrick Corp (PRK), -$0.16 (2.47%) to $6.32 on volume of 2.95 million shares; and
- Patrick 6% Covertible Prefs (PRKPA), -$0.16 (2.45%) to $6.37 on volume of 153 thousand shares.
Patrick Corp (PRK) was taken to the woodshed (ever so slightly) after Richard Branson said he had "no plans" to sell his stake in Virgin Blue (VBA +1.46% to $2.08) to Patrick.
Branson - the world's richest X-gen wannabe (and its most indebted, if Private Eye is to be believed) - is using weasel words here. It smacks too much of "the minister has my absolute confidence"... third time's a charm.
I can always honestly say that "I have no plans" to eat a whole packet of Tim Tams... but put a packet in the cupboard and the things just disappear (especially while Stargate is on).
Everybody knows that PRK has the finance already arranged, and is waiting for VBA's share price to soften 20c or so (from here) before it pulls the trigger. And Branson will sell, or he's an idiot.
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 5497.5 | 22.5 | 0.41% | 56.76m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1797.5 | 6.9 | 0.39% | 47.72m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 2359.3 | 2 | 0.08% | 36.04m |
| XEJ | Energy | 6969 | -0.3 | 0% | 26.33m |
| XFJ | Financials | 4668.6 | -12.1 | -0.26% | 99.08m |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 364.5 | -1 | -0.27% | 4.98m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 4440.4 | -15.4 | -0.35% | 10.18m |
| XXJ | ASX200 ex Property Trusts | 4653.7 | -21 | -0.45% | 51.36m |
| XUJ | Utilities | 4322.7 | -30.4 | -0.7% | 4.63m |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1746.1 | -18.4 | -1.04% | 18.05m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 4721 | -61.3 | -1.28% | 66.61m |
| XMJ | Materials | 6444.8 | -107.4 | -1.64% | 122.48m |
All Ordinaries Volume Leaders
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| MTT | Metcash Trading | 3.37 | 0.43 | 14.63% | 25.08m |
| MAP | Macquarie Airports | 3.09 | 0.01 | 0.32% | 25.07m |
| ZYL | Zylotech | 0.003 | 0 | 0% | 24.65m |
| FCN | Falcon Minerals | 0.87 | -0.18 | -17.14% | 24.46m |
| LIO | Lion Energy | 0.012 | 0 | 0% | 22.34m |
All Ordinaries Top Gainers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| CMK | Cumnock Coal | 0.72 | 0.22 | 44% | 179577 |
| MTT | Metcash Trading | 3.37 | 0.43 | 14.63% | 25.08m |
| CLT | Cellnet Group | 1.65 | 0.13 | 8.55% | 109577 |
| BLT | Benitec | 0.56 | 0.04 | 7.69% | 38800 |
| KRS | Kresta Holdings | 0.59 | 0.04 | 7.27% | 1.2m |
All Ordinaries Top Losers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| HWE | Henry Walker Eltin | 0.49 | -0.06 | -10.91% | 7.61m |
| AMC | Amcor | 6.78 | -0.76 | -10.08% | 21.06m |
| PSA | Petsec Energy | 1.26 | -0.11 | -8.03% | 249440 |
| PMM | Portman Mining | 2.77 | -0.24 | -7.97% | 2.83m |
| CAG | Cape Range | 0.035 | 0 | -7.89% | 1.02m |
Elsewhere in the Region...
| Country | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| New Zealand | NZSE50 | 3010.897 | -4.2 | -0.14% | 34.93m |
| Japan | Nikkei 225 | 10889.71 | -92.25 | -0.84% | 43343 |
| Korea | KOSPI | 861.93 | -8.82 | -1.01% | 290174 |
| Singapore | Straits Times | 2024.9 | -7.48 | -0.37% | 52.47m |
| Hong Kong | Hang Seng | 14211.57 | -45.29 | -0.32% | 195.06m |
| Malaysia | KLSE Comp | 911.01 | -5.35 | -0.58% | 23.12m |
Main SFE Futures Contracts
| Code | Instrument | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| SPI04Z | SPI200 Index SFE | 3958 | -2 | -0.05% | 15975 |
| IR04Z | 90-day Bank Bills SFE | 94.73 | 0.01 | 0.01% | 19441 |
| YT04Z | 3-yr Bond SFE | 95.05 | 0.05 | 0.05% | 55016 |
| XT04Z | 10-yr Bond SFE | 94.78 | 0.07 | 0.07% | 13748 |
