Note - from June 24th 2009, this blog has migrated from Blogger to a self-hosted version. Click here to go straight there.
Major Market Indices
The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries - fell by 9.80 points (-0.24%), finishing at 4055.70 points. The index hit an intraday high of 4069.60 and its low was 4043. The Index that runs (and is run by) the SFE's Share Price index Futures - the S&P/ASX 200 - fell by 9.40 points (-0.23%), finishing at 4052.60 points.
In its usual fashion, the market opened with a spurt, inspired by the overnight goosing of the US markets. Also in keeping with its usual fashion, the rest of the day a low hiss could be heard - the sound of the cash belonging to the Opening Hopefuls, heading on its way to Money Heaven. As I mentioned in this week's Sentiment newsletter, this sort of behaviour (open strong, but not holding the strength) was to be expected with all markets now clearly in the terminal phase of the advance off last August's lows. Today was a text-book example, as was yesterday. Check out today's intraday chart -
Intraday 15 minute chart
That little double bottom at 4039 on the chart above, saved the index from further embarrassment - yet again, futures-led selling evaporated and some mystery support arrived like the cavalry rescuing greenhorn settlers in Injun Country.
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders - fell by 2.80 points (-0.13%), finishing at 2142.10 points. The major winners in the "big guns" were resource-focused, whih ties in with the sectoral leadership provided by Materials today. The leaders were -
- Rio Tinto (RIO), +$0.77 (1.87%) to $41.92 on volume of 3.69m shares;
- Alumina (AWC), +$0.10 (1.63%) to $6.24 on volume of 3.64m shares;
- AMP (AMP), +$0.12 (1.58%) to $7.72 on volume of 10.08m shares;
- BHP Billiton (BHP), +$0.13 (0.83%) to $15.81 on volume of 11.96m shares; and
- ANZ Bank (ANZ), +$0.04 (0.2%) to $20.29 on volume of 3.8m shares;
Stocks with strong ties to consumption spending dominated the rearguard:
- Woolworths (WOW), -$0.26 (1.77%) to $14.40 on volume of 2.3m shares;
- Amcor (AMC), -$0.10 (1.35%) to $7.31 on volume of 2.54m shares;
- Fosters (FGL), -$0.07 (1.3%) to $5.30 on volume of 7.54m shares;
- News Corpse B (NWS), -$0.22 (0.95%) to $22.92 on volume of 5.47m shares; and
- Westfield (WDC), -$0.15 (0.88%) to $16.98 on volume of 7.02m shares;
The smaller end of the market's capitalisation scale - the ASX Small Ordinaries - fell by 6.70 points (-0.29%), finishing at 2343.50 points. Theupside leaders in the small caps were -
- Virotec (VTI), +$0.05 (9.09%) to $0.54 on volume of 441,000 shares;
- Petsec (PSA), +$0.05 (4.63%) to $1.13 on volume of 160,000 shares;
- Excel Coal (EXL), +$0.23 (4.36%) to $5.50 on volume of 746,000 shares;
- Jubilee (JBM), +$0.17 (3.74%) to $4.72 on volume of 711,000 shares; and
- Mincor (MCR), +$0.02 (3.39%) to $0.61 on volume of 4.42m shares.
The biggests duds in the small-caps included:
- Emperor Mining (EMP), -$0.03 (4.62%) to $0.62 on volume of 16,000 shares;
- Multiemedia (MUL), -$0.00 (3.23%) to $0.03 on volume of 6.04m shares;
- Just Group (JST), -$0.09 (3.11%) to $2.80 on volume of 1.85m shares;
- Amalgated Holdings (AHD), -$0.14 (3.11%) to $4.36 on volume of 21,000 shares; and
- Citect (CTL), -$0.03 (3.09%) to $0.94 on volume of 64,000 shares.
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 4055.7 | -9.8 | -0.24% | 0 |
| XTL | S&P/ASX 20 | 2142.1 | -2.8 | -0.13% | 0 |
| XFL | S&P/ASX 50 | 3969.4 | -6.8 | -0.17% | 0 |
| XTO | S&P/ASX 100 | 3292.2 | -7.5 | -0.23% | 0 |
| XJO | S&P/ASX 200 | 4052.6 | -9.4 | -0.23% | 0 |
| XKO | S&P/ASX 300 | 4059.8 | -9.4 | -0.23% | 0 |
| XMD | S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 4084.5 | -22.4 | -0.55% | 0 |
| XSO | S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries | 2343.5 | -6.7 | -0.29% | 0 |
All Ordinaries Market Internals
| XAO | XSO | |
| Advances | 142 | 56 |
| Declines | 219 | 92 |
| Advancing Volume | 182.18m | 55.92m |
| Declining Volume | 331.81m | 51.44m |
Broad Market Internals
| Indicator | Level | +/- | % |
| Advances | 385 | -11 | -2.78 |
| Declines | 491 | 13 | 2.72 |
| Unchanged | 314 | -27 | -7.92 |
| Total Traded Value | 2917 | -167 | -5.42 |
| New 52 Week Highs | 54 | -11 | -16.92 |
| New 52 Week Lows | 18 | 8 | 80 |
| Equity Call Option Volume | 40290 | -1480 | -3.54 |
| Equity Put Option Volume | 39298 | 971 | 2.53 |
S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices
The top sector for the day was Materials which gained 0.55% to 6809.90 points. The sector was helped by
- Excel Coal (EXL), +$0.23 (4.36%) to $5.50 on volume of 746,000 shares;
- Jubilee (JBM), +$0.17 (3.74%) to $4.72 on volume of 711,000 shares;
- Great Southern Plantations (GTP), +$0.14 (3.08%) to $4.69 on volume of 1.28m shares;
- Iluka Resources (ILU), +$0.13 (2.06%) to $6.43 on volume of 1.7m shares; and
- Rio Tinto (RIO), +$0.77 (1.87%) to $41.92 on volume of 3.69m shares;
Second in the sector leadership stakes was Healthcare which gained 0.06% to 4711.30 points. The sector leaders were -
- CSL (CSL), +$0.56 (1.77%) to $32.15 on volume of 1.17m shares;
- Healthscope (HSP), +$0.05 (1.27%) to $3.98 on volume of 830,000 shares;
- Chemeq (CMQ), +$0.01 (0.58%) to $1.74 on volume of 254,000 shares;
- Mayne Group (MAY), +$0.01 (0.23%) to $4.41 on volume of 1.34m shares; and
- Ansell (ANN), +$0.02 (0.22%) to $9.20 on volume of 1.8m shares;
No bronze again today - the third placed sector (Energy) lost -0.04% to 7203.80 points, dragged lower by
- Tap Oil (TAP), -$0.05 (2.89%) to $1.68 on volume of 759,000 shares;
- Arc Energy (ARQ), -$0.04 (2.37%) to $1.65 on volume of 1.73m shares;
- Worley (WOR), -$0.07 (1.21%) to $5.71 on volume of 333,000 shares;
- Aust World Energy(AWE), -$0.02 (1.06%) to $1.86 on volume of 1.04m shares; and
- Santos (STO), -$0.07 (0.8%) to $8.68 on volume of 1.3m shares;
The worst-performed sector today was Information Technology which lost 0.95% to 394.50 points. The sector was dragged lower by
- Infomedia (IFM), -$0.02 (2.67%) to $0.73 on volume of 907,000 shares;
- MYOB (MYO), -$0.03 (2.4%) to $1.22 on volume of 1.23m shares;
- Computershare (CPU), -$0.07 (1.17%) to $5.93 on volume of 753,000 shares; and
- Baycorp (BCA), -$0.03 (0.98%) to $3.03 on volume of 403,000 shares.
Just in front of the last place on the sector table was Consumer Staples which lost 0.86% to 5415.80 points. The sector was pulled down by brewers and the two grocery majors -
- Lion Nathan (LNN), -$0.16 (1.9%) to $8.28 on volume of 763,000 shares;
- Woolworths (WOW), -$0.26 (1.77%) to $14.40 on volume of 2.3m shares;
- Fosters (FGL), -$0.07 (1.3%) to $5.30 on volume of 7.54m shares;
- Burns Philp (BPC), -$0.01 (1.14%) to $0.87 on volume of 1.53m shares; and
- Coles Myer (CML), -$0.06 (0.64%) to $9.30 on volume of 2.6m shares.
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XMJ | Materials | 6809.9 | 37.4 | 0.55% | 81.33m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 4711.3 | 2.6 | 0.06% | 9.56m |
| XEJ | Energy | 7203.8 | -2.6 | -0.04% | 14.39m |
| XXJ | ASX200 ex Property Trusts | 4832.5 | -8.1 | -0.17% | 62.41m |
| XUJ | Utilities | 4558.9 | -9.9 | -0.22% | 5.1m |
| XFJ | Financials | 4834.6 | -14.4 | -0.3% | 185.87m |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1735.4 | -7 | -0.4% | 19.26m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 2353.3 | -15.3 | -0.65% | 36.46m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 4906.1 | -34.5 | -0.7% | 61.17m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1844.2 | -13.7 | -0.74% | 130.49m |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 5415.8 | -46.9 | -0.86% | 32.37m |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 394.5 | -3.8 | -0.95% | 5.35m |
All Ordinaries Volume Leaders
Virgin Blue and Patrick were both hammered by VBA's revised (downwardly, and hard) profit forecast; it seems to have taken the ticket-clipping community by surprise - after all, Merrill Lynch clients were heavy buyers of VBA last week at prices above $1.90. They're probably still playing the "Patrick takeover" angle, but since I don't think ML is the underwriter I would be surprised if there's any "inside scoop" to be read into this.
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| VBA | Virgin Blue | 1.74 | -0.25 | -12.56% | 45.99m |
| CRT | Consolidated Rutile | 0.55 | 0.07 | 13.4% | 18.96m |
| PDN | Paladin | 0.87 | 0.14 | 19.18% | 17.7m |
| TLS | Telstra Corporatiion | 4.84 | -0.02 | -0.41% | 17.66m |
| DRT | DB Rreef | 1.28 | 0 | 0% | 15.18m |
All Ordinaries Top Gainers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| BOC | Bougainville | 0.68 | 0.13 | 23.64% | 248532 |
| CRT | Consolidated Rutile | 0.55 | 0.07 | 13.4% | 18.96m |
| VTI | Virotec | 0.54 | 0.05 | 9.09% | 440753 |
| ALK | Alkane | 0.23 | 0.02 | 7.14% | 810050 |
| BGF | Ballarat Goldfields | 0.16 | 0.01 | 6.67% | 1.62m |
All Ordinaries Top Losers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| VBA | Virgin Blue | 1.74 | -0.25 | -12.56% | 45.99m |
| HLD | Homeleisure | 0.3 | -0.04 | -10.45% | 1.1m |
| GDM | Goldstream | 0.37 | -0.03 | -6.41% | 106656 |
| EMP | Emperor Mines | 0.62 | -0.03 | -4.62% | 15554 |
| PRK | Patrick Corp | 6.22 | -0.29 | -4.45% | 12.75m |
Elsewhere in the Region...
The Kiwi Market declined marginally, losing 2.93 points (-0.09%). The weakest stocks in the market were -
- Baycorp Advantage (BCA), -$0.10 (2.94%) to $3.30 on volume of 65,000 shares;
- Skellmax Industries (SKX), -$0.03 (2.44%) to $1.20 on volume of 78,000 shares;
- Fisher & Paykel (FPA), -$0.07 (1.65%) to $4.18 on volume of 840,000 shares;
- Lion Nathan Limited (LNN), -$0.14 (1.51%) to $9.16 on volume of 4,000 shares; and
- Cavalier Corporation (CAV), -$0.06 (1.38%) to $4.30 on volume of 74,000 shares;
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index advanced 26.09 points (0.19%). Individual stocks that contributed to the advance included...
- China Unicom Ltd (0762), +$0.15 (2.61%) to $5.90 on volume of 17.99m shares;
- China Merchants (0144), +$0.25 (1.74%) to $14.65 on volume of 2.95m shares;
- Cosco Pacific Limited (1199), +$0.20 (1.29%) to $15.65 on volume of 3.05m shares;
- Denway Motor Limited (0203), +$0.03 (0.98%) to $2.58 on volume of 6.6m shares;
- Henderson Land (0012), +$0.30 (0.83%) to $36.60 on volume of 3.05m shares; and
- Hutchison Whampoa (0013), +$0.50 (0.7%) to $71.50 on volume of 14.77m shares;
| Country | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| New Zealand | NZSE50 | 3078.637 | -2.93 | -0.09% | 17.26m |
| Japan | Nikkei 225 | 11405.34 | -17.92 | -0.16% | 89570 |
| Korea | KOSPI | 916.27 | -4.3 | -0.47% | 415606 |
| Singapore | Straits Times | 2094.66 | 10.47 | 0.5% | 0 |
| Hong Kong | Hang Seng | 13630.31 | 26.09 | 0.19% | 180.42m |
| Malaysia | KLSE Comp | 937.25 | -0.31 | -0.03% | 0 |
Main SFE Futures Contracts
| Code | Instrument | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| SP1 | SPI200 Index SFE | 4046 | -6 | -0.15% | 16421 |
| IR1 | 90-day Bank Bills SFE | 94.6 | 0 | 0% | 15650 |
| YT1 | 3-yr Bond SFE | 94.8 | -0.05 | -0.05% | 71511 |
| XT1 | 10-yr Bond SFE | 94.64 | -0.04 | -0.04% | 17743 |
