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Major Market Indices
The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries - fell by 17.70 points (-0.43%), finishing at 4143.00 points. The index hit an intraday high of 4177.80 and its low was 4136. The Index that forms the cash basis for the SFE's Share Price index Futures - the S&P/ASX 200 - fell by 24.10 points (-0.58%), finishing at 4150.20 points.
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders - fell by 15.70 points (-0.70%), finishing at 2214.20 points. Within the index members, there were 7 that rose, and 13 losers. Total volume in rising issues within the ASX20 amounted to 28.15 while volume in the losers totalled 90.22m units.
The major winners in the "big guns" were very "resource-y", as comments by Costello essentially gave the green light to any potential offshore suitor with deep pockets. Uranium? National Interest? To be honest, I agree entirely with the sentiments expressed by the Treasurer in this case; it is not for governments to exclude changes of ownership on the simple basis that the suitor doesn't have an office in Martin Place.
- Alumina (AWC), +$0.09 (1.58%) to $5.80 on volume of 2.76m shares;
- Rio Tinto (RIO), +$0.60 (1.42%) to $43.00 on volume of 1.89m shares;
- BHP Billiton (BHP), +$0.23 (1.38%) to $16.90 on volume of 11.55m shares;
- Woodside Petroleum (WPL), +$0.25 (1.21%) to $20.95 on volume of 2.45m shares; and
- Amcor (AMC), +$0.08 (1.12%) to $7.23 on volume of 2.84m shares.
The following stocks made up the biggest percentage losers in the big-guns: just as banks were in the ascendant in the middle of last week, they have started this week severely under the gun.
The conventional wisdom is that rising interest rates will hurt bank profits. Not so; all that will happen is that interest margins will widen by more than enough to offset any decrease in new loan volumes.
The killer might be that a lot of the idiots who have extracted home equity at inflated valuations, will go PHUT. No surprises then that the banks which have been loudest at touting equity extraction ("equity mate?"... "Yes, why not! I'm a moron...") are the banks that get bitten when folks start thinking of higher interest rates. Banks are renowned for doing stupid things - they are the second-last idiots in any conga line of fiscal stupidity (the last is retail investors)... remember back when Westpac wound up with hundreds of bars' worth of dud commercial property on its book after the last property boom?
- Commonwealth Bank Of Australia. (CBA), -$1.30 (3.55%) to $35.30 on volume of 30.32m shares;
- Australia And New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), -$0.47 (2.17%) to $21.18 on volume of 5.71m shares;
- St George Bank (SGB), -$0.50 (1.97%) to $24.92 on volume of 937,000 shares;
- Wesfarmers (WES), -$0.75 (1.86%) to $39.55 on volume of 1.39m shares; and
- Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC), -$0.21 (1.06%) to $19.69 on volume of 4.03m shares.
At the smaller end of the market's capitalisation scale, the ASX Small Ordinaries Index - the only place where underexploited value exists with any regularity - fell by 2.50 points (-0.10%), finishing at 2401.50 points. The major winners in the "pop-guns" were -
- Mincor Resources (MCR), +$0.07 (9.86%) to $0.78 on volume of 10.58m shares;
- Virotec International (VTI), +$0.04 (6.45%) to $0.66 on volume of 742,000 shares;
- Sally Malay Mining (SMY), +$0.05 (5.56%) to $0.95 on volume of 1.2m shares;
- Sino Gold (SGX), +$0.11 (5.53%) to $2.10 on volume of 290,000 shares; and
- Aquarius Platinum (AQP), +$0.26 (4.53%) to $6.00 on volume of 140,000 shares.
The losingest-little-guys for the session were (in order of decline):
- Emperor Mines (EMP), -$0.05 (8.33%) to $0.55 on volume of 29,000 shares;
- Collection House (CLH), -$0.08 (4.62%) to $1.65 on volume of 333,000 shares; and
- Nylex (NLX), -$0.02 (4.49%) to $0.43 on volume of 3.42m shares;
- Consolidated Minerals (CSM), -$0.13 (4.02%) to $3.10 on volume of 626,000 shares; and
- Bendigo Bank (BEN), -$0.40 (3.85%) to $10.00 on volume of 790,000 shares.
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 4143 | -17.7 | -0.43% | 507.96m |
| XTL | S&P/ASX 20 | 2214.2 | -15.7 | -0.7% | 118.37m |
| XFL | S&P/ASX 50 | 4074.4 | -27.3 | -0.67% | 0 |
| XTO | S&P/ASX 100 | 3370.7 | -20.7 | -0.61% | 0 |
| XJO | S&P/ASX 200 | 4150.2 | -24.1 | -0.58% | 0 |
| XKO | S&P/ASX 300 | 4156.9 | -23.6 | -0.56% | 0 |
| XMD | S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 4119.3 | -11.4 | -0.28% | 0 |
| XSO | S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries | 2401.5 | -2.5 | -0.1% | 135.49m |
All Ordinaries Market Internals
[Commentary]
| XAO | XSO | ASX20 | |
| Advances | 171 | 74 | 7 |
| Declines | 198 | 76 | 13 |
| Advancing Volume | 143.71m | 56.03m | 28.15m |
| Declining Volume | 289.14m | 53.38m | 90.22 |
S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices
The top sector for the day was Materials which gained 0.83% to 7015.50 points. The sector was helped by
- Aquarius Platinum (AQP), +$0.26 (4.53%) to $6.00 on volume of 140,000 shares;
- Centennial Coal Company (CEY), +$0.14 (3.65%) to $3.98 on volume of 1.06m shares;
- Oxiana (OXR), +$0.03 (3.23%) to $0.96 on volume of 7.91m shares;
- Timbercorp (TIM), +$0.07 (3.08%) to $2.34 on volume of 648,000 shares; and
- Croesus Mining (CRS), +$0.01 (1.92%) to $0.53 on volume of 1.69m shares.
Second in the sector leadership stakes was Energy which gained 0.30% to 7361.40 points. The sector leaders were -
- Caltex Australia (CTX), +$0.19 (1.61%) to $11.96 on volume of 405,000 shares;
- Woodside Petroleum (WPL), +$0.25 (1.21%) to $20.95 on volume of 2.45m shares;
- Roc Oil Company (ROC), +$0.02 (1.07%) to $1.89 on volume of 682,000 shares;
- Worleyparsons (WOR), +$0.05 (0.89%) to $5.65 on volume of 75,000 shares; and
- Santos (STO), +$0.08 (0.87%) to $9.27 on volume of 1.29m shares.
The bronze today went to Information Technology which just squeaked to a gain, adding just 0.02% to 420.00 points. The sector was led by
- IRESS Market Technology (IRE), +$0.14 (3.33%) to $4.34 on volume of 228,000 shares;
- Vision Systems. (VSL), +$0.04 (3.05%) to $1.35 on volume of 230,000 shares;
- Infomedia Ltd (IFM), +$0.01 (1.54%) to $0.66 on volume of 1.36m shares;
- MYOB (MYO), -$0.00 (0%) to $1.14 on volume of 133,000 shares; and
- Computershare. (CPU), -$0.02 (0.31%) to $6.42 on volume of 1.34m shares.
The worst-performed sector today was ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts which lost 1.48% to 5034.10 points. Think "Banks", and the wankier their ads, the wrose they did. The sector was dragged lower by
- Bendigo Bank (BEN), -$0.40 (3.85%) to $10.00 on volume of 790,000 shares;
- Commonwealth Bank Of Australia. (CBA), -$1.30 (3.55%) to $35.30 on volume of 30.32m shares; and
- Australia And New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), -$0.47 (2.17%) to $21.18 on volume of 5.71m shares;
- St George Bank (SGB), -$0.50 (1.97%) to $24.92 on volume of 937,000 shares; and
- IOOF Holdings (IFL), -$0.14 (1.63%) to $8.46 on volume of 50,000 shares.
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XMJ | Materials | 7015.5 | 57.7 | 0.83% | 78.28m |
| XEJ | Energy | 7361.4 | 22.3 | 0.3% | 22.86m |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 420 | 0.1 | 0.02% | 5.09m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 2313.3 | -0.4 | -0.02% | 25.59m |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1868.8 | -0.6 | -0.03% | 20.3m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 4758.2 | -29.6 | -0.62% | 9.28m |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 5410.3 | -34.7 | -0.64% | 24.68m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1824.9 | -12.7 | -0.69% | 76.84m |
| XUJ | Utilities | 4662 | -50.6 | -1.07% | 3.02m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 5035.3 | -60.6 | -1.19% | 33.54m |
| XFJ | Financials | 4979 | -65.9 | -1.31% | 148.14m |
| XXJ | ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts | 5034.1 | -75.4 | -1.48% | 76.74m |
All Ordinaries Volume Leaders
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| CBA | Commonwealth Bank Of Australia. | 35.30 | -1.30 | -3.55% | 30.32m |
| RMI | Resource Mining Corporation | 0.098 | -0.007 | -6.67% | 26.72m |
| FCN | Falcon Minerals | 0.94 | 0.07 | 8.05% | 22.58m |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation. | 5.26 | -0.01 | -0.19% | 19.23m |
| SEN | Senetas Corporation | 0.35 | -0.02 | -4.11% | 13.44m |
| BHP | BHP Billiton | 16.9 | 0.23 | 1.38% | 11.55m |
All Ordinaries Top Gainers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| MCR | Mincor Resources | 0.78 | 0.07 | 9.86% | 10.58m |
| AGI | Ainsworth Game Technology | 1.09 | 0.09 | 9% | 1.49m |
| QPX | QPSX | 0.15 | 0.01 | 7.14% | 744470 |
| VTI | Virotec International | 0.66 | 0.04 | 6.45% | 741874 |
| BGF | Ballarat Goldfields | 0.17 | 0.01 | 6.25% | 1.36m |
All Ordinaries Top Losers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| UNW | Unwired Group | 0.6 | -0.09 | -13.04% | 2.62m |
| IHG | Intellect Holdings | 0.04 | -0.005 | -11.11% | 21.67m |
| TIR | Titan Resources | 0.064 | -0.005 | -7.25% | 2.03m |
| ROK | Rock Building Society | 4.05 | -0.25 | -5.81% | 37300 |
| MST | Metal Storm | 0.21 | -0.01 | -4.65% | 1.03m |
Elsewhere in the Region...
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 113.80 points (0.98%) to close at 11667.36 points.
The Kiwi Market advanced 21.53 points (0.68%). A total of 27 stocks within the NZSE50 rose, with volume in advancers totalling 15.4 million units. Decliners numbered 9, and total volume traded in losers was 1.4million shares. Leaders were...
- Mainfreight Limited (MFT), +$0.15 (6%) to $2.65 on volume of 54,000 shares;
- Pumpkin Patch Limited (PPL), +$0.17 (5.78%) to $3.11 on volume of 219,000 shares;
- Tower Limited Ord (TWR), +$0.05 (2.39%) to $2.14 on volume of 207,000 shares;
- Ports Of Auckland (POA), +$0.14 (2.16%) to $6.63 on volume of 80,000 shares;
- Promina Group Limited (PMN), +$0.10 (1.69%) to $6.00 on volume of 69,000 shares; and
- Independent Newspapers (INL), +$0.09 (1.51%) to $6.05 on volume of 101,000 shares.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index advanced 151.64 points (1.10%). Within the Hang Seng, 25 index components rose, while 4 stocks fell. Volume in the gainers in Hong Kong's big-cap index totalled 161.8million units, and total volume traded in losers was 31.2million shares. Individual stocks that contributed to the advance included...
- CNOOC (0883), +$0.13 (3.14%) to $4.10 on volume of 48.63m shares;
- Cheung Kong (0001), +$1.50 (2.08%) to $73.75 on volume of 7.63m shares;
- Wheelock (0020), +$0.20 (1.67%) to $12.20 on volume of 813,000 shares;
- China Unicom (0762), +$0.10 (1.53%) to $6.65 on volume of 11.69m shares;
- Cathay Pacific Airways (0293), +$0.20 (1.43%) to $14.20 on volume of 5.09m shares; and
- Henderson Investments (0097), +$0.15 (1.35%) to $11.25 on volume of 958,000 shares.
| Country | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| New Zealand | NZSE50 | 3184.936 | 21.53 | 0.68% | 22.81m |
| Japan | Nikkei 225 | 11667.36 | 113.8 | 0.98% | 89268 |
| Korea | KOSPI | 965.27 | 18.04 | 1.9% | 479532 |
| Singapore | Straits Times | 2165.06 | 15.46 | 0.72% | 0 |
| Hong Kong | Hang Seng | 13997.27 | 151.64 | 1.1% | 225.6m |
| Malaysia | KLSE Comp | 919.18 | 4.27 | 0.47% | 0 |
