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Major Market Indices
Another record - it's hard not to get bored with all the bullish palaver being put about. I read something just now that claimed that fund managers had been "caught short"... now forgive me for being picky, but how many fund managers do you reckon have mandates that permit shorting? For that matter, how many fund managers d'you reckon were expecting a down January?
Still, its good for the superannuation accounts of the masses; after all, if the SuperNuffies underperform the index (on average), then an index that goes up gives their clients at least some chance of keeping their funds intact (before fees, of course). Don't get me wrong - there are some good managers out there (Anton Tagliaferro, for example, and the guys from Platinum Capital) but they're few and far between, and by and large they don't advertise.
Rule 1 about fund managers: if they advertise, avoid them. In fact avoid them, avoid their funds, avoid the schools their kids go to, avoid everything you can find out about them. And the more cheesy and "we'll look after you" the ads are, the wider the berth you ought to give them.
Of course the foregoing is not investment advice (it's "investment avoidance advice" if it's anything). Given what I've seen of the majors, though, they are so top-heavy, and so laden with sales shills, "business development" twerps and hangers-on of every stripe that it's a winder there's any dough left over to manage. You'll never hear Koch or Clithero make a single comment about them... and why is that? Is it just because they're both no-hopers?
Could it be their advertising budgets make the fund mis-managers a "no-go" area for the networks?
Anyhow - enough about those charlatans...
The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries - rose by 20.10 points (0.49%), finishing at 4127.20 points. The index hit an intraday high of 4130.20 and its low was 4106.7, which was set at the open. The high was set at about 10 to 4...
The Index that hinges the SFE's Share Price Index Futures - the S&P/ASX 200 - rose by 19.90 points (0.48%), finishing at 4127.70 points.
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders - rose by 12.00 points (0.55%), finishing at 2183.90 points. The major winners in the "big guns" were -
- Rio Tinto (RIO), +$0.77 (1.79%) to $43.67 on volume of 3.35m shares;
- BHP Billiton (BHP), +$0.29 (1.78%) to $16.56 on volume of 9.93m shares;
- Woodside Petroleum (WPL), +$0.34 (1.65%) to $20.99 on volume of 1.4m shares;
- Alumina (AWC), +$0.07 (1.15%) to $6.16 on volume of 3.45m shares; and
- Wesfarmers (WES), +$0.44 (1.12%) to $39.74 on volume of 869,000 shares.
The following stocks brought up the rear of the big-caps - note that there was little negative movement in the biggies...
- Westfield (WDC), -$0.12 (0.7%) to $16.92 on volume of 3.85m shares;
- Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC), -$0.10 (0.52%) to $19.10 on volume of 3.35m shares; and
- Australia And New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), -$0.09 (0.44%) to $20.50 on volume of 2.3m shares;
- St George Bank (SGB), -$0.06 (0.24%) to $24.65 on volume of 913,000 shares; and
- Foster's Group (FGL), -$0.01 (0.19%) to $5.20 on volume of 5.87m shares.
At the smaller end of the market's capitalisation scale, the ASX Small Ordinaries underperformed the broader market, but still managed to gain 6.30 points (0.26%), finishing at 2405.80 points. The major winners in the "pop-guns" were -
- SP Telemedia (SOT), +$0.21 (10.14%) to $2.28 on volume of 501,000 shares as it was announced as the NSW government's broadband provider for a State network (to me, that indicates that SOT's tender was the cheapest, which means either teensy or negative margins... nobody will think about that for a week or so);
- Villa World (VWD), +$0.10 (6.06%) to $1.75 on volume of 216,000 shares;
- Infomedia Ltd (IFM), +$0.03 (4.35%) to $0.72 on volume of 1.9m shares;
- IRESS Market Technology (IRE), +$0.17 (4.25%) to $4.17 on volume of 77,000 shares; and
- Chemeq (CMQ), +$0.07 (4.22%) to $1.73 on volume of 1.06m shares.
Meanwhile the following stocks brought up the rear:
- Aust Agriculture Co (AAC), -$0.11 (5.73%) to $1.81 on volume of 1.06m shares;
- Sirtex Medical (SRX), -$0.14 (5.6%) to $2.36 on volume of 112,000 shares; and
- Virotec International (VTI), -$0.03 (5.56%) to $0.51 on volume of 141,000 shares;
- Housewares International (HWI), -$0.12 (5.04%) to $2.26 on volume of 123,000 shares; and
- Keycorp (KYC), -$0.09 (5%) to $1.71 on volume of 41,000 shares.
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 4127.2 | 20.1 | 0.49% | 545.99m |
| XTL | S&P/ASX 20 | 2183.9 | 12 | 0.55% | 85.6m |
| XFL | S&P/ASX 50 | 4042.5 | 21.6 | 0.54% | 0 |
| XTO | S&P/ASX 100 | 3349.9 | 16.5 | 0.49% | 0 |
| XJO | S&P/ASX 200 | 4127.7 | 19.9 | 0.48% | 0 |
| XKO | S&P/ASX 300 | 4134.1 | 19.5 | 0.47% | 0 |
| XMD | S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 4134.5 | 10.2 | 0.25% | 0 |
| XSO | S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries | 2405.8 | 6.3 | 0.26% | 142.04m |
All Ordinaries Market Internals
| XAO | XSO | |
| Advances | 231 | 98 |
| Declines | 153 | 65 |
| Advancing Volume | 303.17m | 74.32m |
| Declining Volume | 186.19m | 50.21m |
Broad Market Internals
| Indicator | Level | +/- | % |
| Advances | 474 | 49 | 11.53 |
| Declines | 466 | 33 | 7.62 |
| Unchanged | 282 | -54 | -16.07 |
| Total Traded Value | 2950 | 142 | 5.06 |
| New 52 Week Highs | 70 | -1 | -1.41 |
| New 52 Week Lows | 20 | 5 | 33.33 |
| Equity Call Option Volume | 56679 | 14901 | 35.67 |
| Equity Put Option Volume | 42825 | 80 | 0.19 |
S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices
The top sector for the day was Information Technology which gained 4.30% to 412.70 points. Flight to shite...
The sector was helped by
- Computershare. (CPU), +$0.33 (5.57%) to $6.25 on volume of 4.06m shares;
- Infomedia Ltd (IFM), +$0.03 (4.35%) to $0.72 on volume of 1.9m shares;
- IRESS Market Technology (IRE), +$0.17 (4.25%) to $4.17 on volume of 77,000 shares;
- Baycorp Advantage (BCA), +$0.08 (2.6%) to $3.16 on volume of 276,000 shares; and
- ERG (ERG), +$0.01 (1.67%) to $0.31 on volume of 659,000 shares.
Second in the sector leadership stakes was Materials which gained 1.31% to 6995.00 points. The sector leaders were -
- Onesteel (OST), +$0.10 (3.61%) to $2.87 on volume of 5.12m shares;
- Timbercorp (TIM), +$0.08 (3.59%) to $2.31 on volume of 1.12m shares;
- Centennial Coal Company (CEY), +$0.11 (2.76%) to $4.10 on volume of 603,000 shares;
- Great Southern Plantations (GTP), +$0.13 (2.73%) to $4.89 on volume of 868,000 shares; and
- Orica (ORI), +$0.47 (2.45%) to $19.68 on volume of 647,000 shares.
The bronze today went to Healthcare which gained 1.19% to 4701.20 points. The sector was led by
- Chemeq (CMQ), +$0.07 (4.22%) to $1.73 on volume of 1.06m shares;
- Peptech (PTD), +$0.07 (3.83%) to $1.90 on volume of 890,000 shares;
- Cochlear (COH), +$0.55 (2.12%) to $26.50 on volume of 227,000 shares;
- DCA Group (DVC), +$0.07 (2.08%) to $3.43 on volume of 951,000 shares; and
- Ramsay Health Care (RHC), +$0.13 (1.79%) to $7.40 on volume of 257,000 shares.
The worst-performed sector today was Property Trusts which lost 0.78% to 1833.80 points. The sector was dragged lower by
- Centro. Staple (CNP), -$0.12 (2.25%) to $5.22 on volume of 940,000 shares;
- Stockland (SGP), -$0.10 (1.7%) to $5.77 on volume of 4.73m shares; and
- Mirvac Group (MGR), -$0.08 (1.7%) to $4.63 on volume of 5.62m shares;
- Macquarie Countrywide Trust (MCW), -$0.03 (1.42%) to $2.08 on volume of 760,000 shares; and
- CFS Gandel Retail Trust (GAN), -$0.02 (1.25%) to $1.58 on volume of 1.75m shares.
Just in front of the last place on the sector table was Financials which actually managed a gain for the day, albeit only by 0.04% (to 4919.10 points). The sector was aided by
- Challenger Financial Services Group (CGF), +$0.18 (5.45%) to $3.48 on volume of 4.13m shares;
- FKP Property Group (FKP), +$0.11 (2.86%) to $3.96 on volume of 201,000 shares;
- Australand Property Group (ALZ), +$0.05 (2.76%) to $1.86 on volume of 1.77m shares;
- Macquarie Bank (MBL), +$1.15 (2.35%) to $50.00 on volume of 1.03m shares; and
- Bank Of Queensland. (BOQ), +$0.16 (1.54%) to $10.56 on volume of 238,000 shares.
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 412.7 | 17 | 4.3% | 7.56m |
| XMJ | Materials | 6995 | 90.6 | 1.31% | 101.91m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 4701.2 | 55.2 | 1.19% | 8.07m |
| XEJ | Energy | 7400 | 72.6 | 0.99% | 16.14m |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1778.2 | 14.6 | 0.83% | 22.79m |
| XUJ | Utilities | 4664.7 | 27.8 | 0.6% | 4.16m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 2358.5 | 12.4 | 0.53% | 59.91m |
| XXJ | ASX200 ex Property Trusts | 4949.7 | 14 | 0.28% | 53.83m |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 5413.2 | 10 | 0.19% | 27.54m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 5092.3 | 8.6 | 0.17% | 60.19m |
| XFJ | Financials | 4919.1 | 2.2 | 0.04% | 116.32m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1833.8 | -14.5 | -0.78% | 66.34m |
All Ordinaries Volume Leaders
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| FXJ | Fairfax Holdings | 4.54 | 0.13 | 2.95% | 23.64m |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation. | 4.99 | 0.05 | 1.01% | 21.03m |
| TCL | Transurban Group | 7.87 | -0.38 | -4.61% | 16.13m |
| CEUCA | Connecteast Group | 0.77 | 0.02 | 2.67% | 15.91m |
| LHG | Lihir Gold | 1.06 | 0.02 | 1.92% | 15.22m |
| CUE | Cue Energy Resources | 0.32 | -0.01 | -3.03% | 14.45m |
All Ordinaries Top Gainers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| EOS | Electro Optic Systems Holdings | 5.2 | 0.67 | 14.79% | 313124 |
| SOT | SP Telemedia | 2.28 | 0.21 | 10.14% | 500564 |
| TIR | Titan Resources | 0.058 | 0.005 | 9.43% | 1.4m |
| SEL | S8 | 2.15 | 0.16 | 8.04% | 220298 |
| IHG | Intellect Holdings | 0.034 | 0.002 | 6.25% | 5.92m |
All Ordinaries Top Losers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| MST | Metal Storm | 0.21 | -0.03 | -10.64% | 3.59m |
| CNT | Centamin Egypt | 0.32 | -0.03 | -8.7% | 290000 |
| SED | Sedimentary Holdings | 0.24 | -0.02 | -7.69% | 718000 |
| HLD | Homeleisure | 0.32 | -0.03 | -7.35% | 661343 |
| AWP | Arrow Pharmaceuticals | 11.42 | -0.78 | -6.39% | 25520 |
Elsewhere in the Region...
The Kiwi Market advanced 17.24 points (0.56%). Individual stocks that helped fuel the advance included...
- Baycorp Advantage (BCA), +$0.11 (3.27%) to $3.47 on volume of 64,000 shares;
- Infratil Limited (IFT), +$0.11 (3.2%) to $3.55 on volume of 478,000 shares;
- Waste Management (WAM), +$0.16 (2.7%) to $6.08 on volume of 226,000 shares;
- Sky City Entertainment (SKC), +$0.12 (2.33%) to $5.28 on volume of 1.78m shares;
- Ports Of Auckland (POA), +$0.13 (1.96%) to $6.77 on volume of 79,000 shares; and
- Fisher & Paykel H (FPH), +$0.06 (1.9%) to $3.22 on volume of 1.23m shares.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index declined -102.44 points (-0.75%). Individual stocks that contributed to the decline included...
- CKI Holdings (1038), -$0.80 (3.43%) to $22.55 on volume of 1,000,000 shares;
- China Unicom (0762), -$0.15 (2.36%) to $6.20 on volume of 8.46m shares;
- Henderson Investments (0097), -$0.25 (2.26%) to $10.80 on volume of 876,000 shares;
- MTR Corporation (0066), -$0.25 (2.04%) to $12.00 on volume of 1.59m shares;
- Johnson Electronics H (0179), -$0.15 (2.01%) to $7.30 on volume of 3.15m shares; and
- Denway Motors (0203), -$0.05 (1.74%) to $2.83 on volume of 11.91m shares;
| Country | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| New Zealand | NZSE50 | 3092.825 | 17.24 | 0.56% | 31.55m |
| Japan | Nikkei 225 | 11345.76 | -41.83 | -0.37% | 86870 |
| Korea | KOSPI | 924.92 | -7.78 | -0.83% | 413157 |
| Singapore | Straits Times | 2098.53 | 2.21 | 0.11% | 0 |
| Hong Kong | Hang Seng | 13619.25 | -102.44 | -0.75% | 189.2m |
| Malaysia | KLSE Comp | 916.27 | -0.96 | -0.1% | 0 |
Main SFE Futures Contracts
| Code | Instrument | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| SP1 | SPI200 Index SFE | 4110 | 26 | 0.64% | 13146 |
| IR1 | 90-day Bank Bills SFE | 94.4 | 0.04 | 0.04% | 16753 |
| YT1 | 3-yr Bond SFE | 94.71 | 0.04 | 0.04% | 36310 |
| XT1 | 10-yr Bond SFE | 94.61 | 0.03 | 0.03% | 10526 |
