Note - from June 24th 2009, this blog has migrated from Blogger to a self-hosted version. Click here to go straight there.
{Post Edited at 1715 AEST by GT. Reason: "Look at all those Meanwhiles - get rid of them"}
Major Market Indices
The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries - rose by 14.00 points (0.34%), finishing at 4141.20 points. The index hit an intraday high of 4146.30 and its low was 4127.2. The Index that runs (and is run by) the SFE's Share Price index Futures - the S&P/ASX 200 rose by 17.60 points (0.43%), finishing at 4145.30 points. XJO actually managed to trade above 4150, albeit briefly - just after 3 p.m.
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders - rose by 10.00 points (0.46%), finishing at 2193.90 points. The major winners in the "big guns" were -
- AMP Limited (AMP), +$0.21 (2.73%) to $7.90 on volume of 10.32m shares;
- BHP Billiton (BHP), +$0.32 (1.93%) to $16.88 on volume of 21.65m shares;
- QBE Insurance Group (QBE), +$0.21 (1.37%) to $15.50 on volume of 1.66m shares;
- Australia And New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), +$0.20 (0.98%) to $20.70 on volume of 3.54m shares; and
- Foster's Group (FGL), +$0.05 (0.96%) to $5.25 on volume of 9.13m shares.
The following stocks brought up the rear of the large caps:
- Woodside (WPL), -$0.24 (1.14%) to $20.75 on volume of 1.36m shares;
- Alumina (AWC), -$0.06 (0.97%) to $6.10 on volume of 7.51m shares; and
- St George Bank (SGB), -$0.22 (0.89%) to $24.43 on volume of 1.2m shares;
- Woolworths (WOW), -$0.13 (0.89%) to $14.52 on volume of 952,000 shares; and
- Rio Tinto (RIO), -$0.29 (0.66%) to $43.38 on volume of 5.9m shares.
At the smaller end of the market's capitalisation scale, the ASX Small Ordinaries Index barely budged, rising just 1.50 points (0.06%), finishing at 2407.30 points. The major winners in the "pop-guns" were -
- Progen Industries. (PGL), +$0.40 (9.64%) to $4.55 on volume of 124,000 shares after announcing it was to extend its melanoma clinical trial;
- Austral Coal (AUO), +$0.08 (8.89%) to $0.98 on volume of 13.22m shares after a huge increase in output from its Tahmoor mine;
- Virotec International (VTI), +$0.04 (7.84%) to $0.55 on volume of 375,000 shares;
- Macarthur Coal (MCC), +$0.37 (7.51%) to $5.30 on volume of 570,000 shares; and
- Cellestis (CST), +$0.21 (6.91%) to $3.25 on volume of 144,000 shares.
The following stocks brought up the rear:
- Village Life (VLL), -$0.55 (21.15%) to $2.05 on volume of 16.11m shares after the retirement home developer gave an absolute shocker of an outlook (it cut its full-year earnings guidance to a lazy 25% below consensus)... obviously the increased oversight is preventing cost-cutting (I'm kidding...);
- Kingsgate Consolidated. (KCN), -$0.11 (4.3%) to $2.45 on volume of 457,000 shares; and
- Infomedia Ltd (IFM), -$0.03 (4.17%) to $0.69 on volume of 2.61m shares;
- Worley Parsons Group (WOR), -$0.21 (3.55%) to $5.70 on volume of 153,000 shares; and
- Ridley Corporation (RIC), -$0.05 (3.38%) to $1.43 on volume of 262,000 shares.
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 4141.2 | 14 | 0.34% | 729.05m |
| XTL | S&P/ASX 20 | 2193.9 | 10 | 0.46% | 118.76m |
| XFL | S&P/ASX 50 | 4062.6 | 20.1 | 0.5% | 0 |
| XTO | S&P/ASX 100 | 3365.3 | 15.4 | 0.46% | 0 |
| XJO | S&P/ASX 200 | 4145.3 | 17.6 | 0.43% | 0 |
| XKO | S&P/ASX 300 | 4151.7 | 17.6 | 0.43% | 0 |
| XMD | S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 4145.1 | 10.6 | 0.26% | 0 |
| XSO | S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries | 2407.3 | 1.5 | 0.06% | 179.22m |
All Ordinaries Market Internals
| XAO | XSO | |
| Advances | 189 | 75 |
| Declines | 171 | 84 |
| Advancing Volume | 406.56m | 78.7m |
| Declining Volume | 183.2m | 69.15m |
Broad Market Internals
| Indicator | Level | +/- | % |
| Advances | 427 | -47 | -9.92 |
| Declines | 446 | -20 | -4.29 |
| Unchanged | 348 | 66 | 23.4 |
| Total Traded Value | 3893 | 930 | 31.39 |
| New 52 Week Highs | 70 | 0 | 0 |
| New 52 Week Lows | 21 | 1 | 5 |
| Equity Call Option Volume | 77264 | 20585 | 36.32 |
| Equity Put Option Volume | 41523 | -1302 | -3.04 |
S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices
The top sector for the day was Utilities which gained 1.23% to 4722.10 points. The sector was helped by
- Australian Gas Light (AGL), +$0.32 (2.31%) to $14.19 on volume of 2.74m shares;
- Gasnet Australia (GAS), +$0.04 (1.54%) to $2.64 on volume of 194,000 shares;
- Australian Pipeline Trust (APA), +$0.03 (0.82%) to $3.70 on volume of 319,000 shares;
- Diversified Utility And Energy Trusts (DUE), +$0.01 (0.39%) to $2.60 on volume of 1.86m shares; and
- Alinta (ALN), -$0.01 (0.11%) to $8.78 on volume of 771,000 shares.
Second in the sector leadership stakes was Healthcare which gained 1.13% to 4754.40 points. The sector leaders were -
- Peptech (PTD), +$0.07 (3.68%) to $1.97 on volume of 1.01m shares;
- Resmed (RMD), +$0.22 (3.33%) to $6.83 on volume of 555,000 shares;
- Cochlear (COH), +$0.80 (3.02%) to $27.30 on volume of 311,000 shares;
- Mayne Group (MAY), +$0.10 (2.17%) to $4.70 on volume of 2.38m shares; and
- DCA Group (DVC), +$0.06 (1.75%) to $3.49 on volume of 2.01m shares.
The bronze today went to Materials which gained 0.89% to 7057.30 points. The sector was led by
- WMC Resources (WMR), +$0.45 (6.25%) to $7.65 on volume of 37.07m shares (after XStrata increased its bid);
- Zinifex (ZFX), +$0.12 (4.3%) to $2.91 on volume of 12.28m shares;
- Minara Resources (MRE), +$0.08 (4.28%) to $1.95 on volume of 3.48m shares;
- Aquarius Platinum (AQP), +$0.15 (2.59%) to $5.95 on volume of 129,000 shares; and
- BHP Billiton (BHP), +$0.32 (1.93%) to $16.88 on volume of 21.65m shares.
The worst-performed sector today was Energy which lost 1.03% to 7323.90 points - not a huge surprise given the overnight pullback in Crude Oil. The sector was dragged lower by
- Worley Parsons Group (WOR), -$0.21 (3.55%) to $5.70 on volume of 153,000 shares;
- Santos (STO), -$0.22 (2.35%) to $9.15 on volume of 3.13m shares; and
- Australian Worldwide Exploration (AWE), -$0.04 (2.16%) to $1.81 on volume of 1.18m shares;
- Origin Energy (ORG), -$0.09 (1.29%) to $6.89 on volume of 1.62m shares; and
- Woodside Petroleum (WPL), -$0.24 (1.14%) to $20.75 on volume of 1.36m shares.
Just in front of the last place on the sector table was Consumer Staples which lost 0.19% to 5403.10 points. The sector was pulled down by
- Ridley (RIC), -$0.05 (3.38%) to $1.43 on volume of 262,000 shares;
- Lion Nathan (LNN), -$0.11 (1.35%) to $8.03 on volume of 1.09m shares; and
- AWB (AWB), -$0.06 (1.28%) to $4.63 on volume of 1.02m shares;
- Southcorp (SRP), -$0.04 (0.91%) to $4.37 on volume of 8.02m shares; and
- Woolworths (WOW), -$0.13 (0.89%) to $14.52 on volume of 952,000 shares.
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XUJ | Utilities | 4722.1 | 57.4 | 1.23% | 7.22m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 4754.4 | 53.2 | 1.13% | 9.38m |
| XMJ | Materials | 7057.3 | 62.3 | 0.89% | 157.21m |
| XXJ | ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts | 4985.1 | 35.4 | 0.72% | 85.14m |
| XFJ | Financials | 4948.6 | 29.5 | 0.6% | 183.52m |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1784.7 | 6.5 | 0.37% | 25.58m |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 414.2 | 1.5 | 0.36% | 7.89m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1837.4 | 3.6 | 0.2% | 103.71m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 5089 | -3.3 | -0.06% | 51.03m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 2354.3 | -4.2 | -0.18% | 56.03m |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 5403.1 | -10.1 | -0.19% | 46.17m |
| XEJ | Energy | 7323.9 | -76.1 | -1.03% | 20.83m |
All Ordinaries Volume Leaders
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| WMR | WMC Resources | 7.65 | 0.45 | 6.25% | 37.07m |
| HHG | HHG Plc | 1.55 | 0.04 | 2.65% | 31.55m |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation. | 5.01 | 0.02 | 0.4% | 22.78m |
| BHP | BHP Billiton | 16.88 | 0.32 | 1.93% | 21.65m |
| SGT | Singapore Telecommunications. | 2.06 | 0.03 | 1.48% | 17.6m |
| MIG | Macquarie Infrastructure Group | 3.79 | 0.04 | 1.07% | 17.54m |
All Ordinaries Top Gainers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| PGL | Progen Industries. | 4.55 | 0.4 | 9.64% | 123882 |
| AUO | Austral Coal | 0.98 | 0.08 | 8.89% | 13.22m |
| CNT | Centamin Egypt | 0.34 | 0.03 | 7.94% | 2.42m |
| HLD | Homeleisure | 0.34 | 0.03 | 7.94% | 248107 |
| VTI | Virotec International | 0.55 | 0.04 | 7.84% | 375182 |
All Ordinaries Top Losers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| VLL | Village Life Ltd | 2.05 | -0.55 | -21.15% | 16.11m |
| ERA | Energy Resources Of Australia | 9.35 | -0.65 | -6.5% | 35506 |
| TKR | Triako Resources | 1.35 | -0.07 | -4.93% | 51729 |
| KCN | Kingsgate Consolidated. | 2.45 | -0.11 | -4.3% | 457499 |
| COU | Count Financial | 1.35 | -0.06 | -4.26% | 67543 |
Elsewhere in the Region...
Japan was stuck in a 50 point trading range for the entire session - after the SGX Nikkei futures got through 11455 you might have thought that the Nikkei was off to the races, but you would have been looking at the wrong thing, because the SGX future hit 11455 before the actual Tokyo market opened (only by 5 minutes, but that's not the point...).
After forming a little triangle for most of the morning (lower highs and higher lows, contracting to a point right at the time Japan's market closes for lunch), the Nikkei came back from lunch and head-faked everybody by breaking upwards out of the triangle... before turning and falling back towards 11400. It registered its intraday low at 11399.62, tested it twenty minutes later, then bounced as high as 11436 in the afternoon (11 points short of its early morning high).
All of the carmakers (Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi and Toyota) were up after an announcement of yet another turnaround plan from Mitsubishi Motors. that also helped its parent (also called Mitsubishi), which was the biggest gainer in the TOPIX.
The Kiwi Market declined, but barely - the NZSE50 registered a fall of just 0.95 points (0.03%). But since a decline is a decline is a decline, we have to examine the leading losers... those were:
- Fisher & Paykel A (FPA), -$0.49 (12.28%) to $3.50 on volume of 7.79m shares;
- Lion Nathan Limited (LNN), -$0.20 (2.22%) to $8.80 on volume of 189,000 shares;
- Property Forest Industry (PFI), -$0.02 (1.87%) to $1.05 on volume of 154,000 shares;
- Sky Network Television (SKY), -$0.09 (1.45%) to $6.10 on volume of 1.58m shares; and
- ANZ Bank (ANZ), -$0.30 (1.33%) to $22.25 on volume of 10,000 shares.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index got more into it as far as downside momentum is concerned, falling 106.36 points (0.78%). Individual stocks that contributed to the decline included...
- China Merchant Holdings (0144), -$0.40 (2.64%) to $14.75 on volume of 2.72m shares;
- Citic Pacific (0267), -$0.55 (2.53%) to $21.20 on volume of 2.75m shares;
- Henderson Land (0012), -$0.80 (2.22%) to $35.30 on volume of 3.08m shares;
- China Resources (0291), -$0.20 (1.77%) to $11.10 on volume of 981,000 shares;
- Hang Lung Properties (0101), -$0.20 (1.71%) to $11.50 on volume of 2.61m shares; and
- China Unicom (0762), -$0.10 (1.63%) to $6.05 on volume of 9.97m shares.
| Country | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| New Zealand | NZSE50 | 3091.873 | -0.95 | -0.03% | 38.92m |
| Japan | Nikkei 225 | 11421.52 | 37.12 | 0.33% | 86576 |
| Korea | KOSPI | 921.74 | -1.95 | -0.21% | 420197 |
| Singapore | Straits Times | 2108.64 | 13.99 | 0.67% | 0 |
| Hong Kong | Hang Seng | 13471.9 | -106.36 | -0.78% | 185.44m |
| Malaysia | KLSE Comp | 916.24 | -0.03 | 0% | 0 |
Main SFE Futures Contracts
| Code | Instrument | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| SP1 | SPI200 Index SFE | 4134 | 24 | 0.58% | 12870 |
| IR1 | 90-day Bank Bills SFE | 94.41 | 0 | 0% | 30087 |
| YT1 | 3-yr Bond SFE | 94.73 | 0.03 | 0.03% | 63965 |
| XT1 | 10-yr Bond SFE | 94.66 | 0.05 | 0.05% | 24059 |
