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Major Market Indices
The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries - fell by 10.60 points (-0.25%), finishing at 4172.30 points. The index hit an intraday high of 4183.90 and its low was 4163.8. The Index that provides the cash basis for the SFE's Share Price index Futures - the S&P/ASX 200 - fell by 10.50 points (-0.25%), finishing at 4179.10 points.
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders - fell by 8.30 points (-0.37%), finishing at 2214.50 points. Twelve of the members of the index fell, and seven rose, with the two bits of News Corpse changing by a total of one cent between them (NWS unchm, NWLV +$0.01). volume-wise, most of the ASX20 turnover was still in stocks that rose for the day. The major winners in the "big guns" were -
- Alumina (AWC), +$0.10 (1.72%) to $5.92 on volume of 6.47m shares;
- Telstra Corporation. (TLS), +$0.07 (1.36%) to $5.23 on volume of 40.88m shares;
- Amcor (AMC), +$0.09 (1.25%) to $7.31 on volume of 2.72m shares;
- Woolworths (WOW), +$0.13 (0.87%) to $15.15 on volume of 3.2m shares; and
- Foster's Group (FGL), +$0.02 (0.37%) to $5.42 on volume of 16.34m shares.
The following stocks made up the biggest percentage losers in the big-guns:
- AMP Limited (AMP), -$0.20 (2.55%) to $7.63 on volume of 11.39m shares;
- Westfield Group (WDC), -$0.40 (2.31%) to $16.90 on volume of 7.83m shares; and
- Woodside Petroleum (WPL), -$0.32 (1.56%) to $20.19 on volume of 2.27m shares;
- Rio Tinto (RIO), -$0.59 (1.35%) to $43.05 on volume of 2.3m shares; and
- QBE Insurance Group (QBE), -$0.15 (0.95%) to $15.70 on volume of 2.06m shares.
At the smaller end of the market's capitalisation scale, the ASX Small Ordinaries Index - repository of underpriced value in this market - actually rose by 0.80 points (0.03%), finishing at 2414.40 points. The major winners in the "pop-guns" were -
- UXC (UXC), +$0.07 (7.87%) to $0.96 on volume of 1.02m shares;
- Ventracor (VCR), +$0.09 (7.14%) to $1.35 on volume of 2.02m shares;
- Technology One (TNE), +$0.05 (6.94%) to $0.77 on volume of 894,000 shares;
- Macmahon Holdings (MAH), +$0.03 (5.45%) to $0.58 on volume of 1.56m shares; and
- Beach Petroleum (BPT), +$0.03 (5.26%) to $0.50 on volume of 2.72m shares.
The losingest-little-guys for the session were (in order of decline):
- Equigold (EQI), -$0.09 (6.12%) to $1.38 on volume of 404,000 shares;
- Villa World (VWD), -$0.11 (6.01%) to $1.72 on volume of 206,000 shares; and
- Infomedia Ltd (IFM), -$0.04 (5.8%) to $0.65 on volume of 6.22m shares;
- Metabolic Pharmaceuticals (MBP), -$0.06 (5.66%) to $1.00 on volume of 1.7m shares; and
- Peptech (PTD), -$0.09 (4.66%) to $1.84 on volume of 807,000 shares.
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 4172.3 | -10.6 | -0.25% | 620.37m |
| XTL | S&P/ASX 20 | 2214.5 | -8.3 | -0.37% | 130.72m |
| XFL | S&P/ASX 50 | 4097.7 | -13.4 | -0.33% | 0 |
| XTO | S&P/ASX 100 | 3394.7 | -9.5 | -0.28% | 0 |
| XJO | S&P/ASX 200 | 4179.1 | -10.5 | -0.25% | 0 |
| XKO | S&P/ASX 300 | 4185.8 | -10.6 | -0.25% | 0 |
| XMD | S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 4183 | -0.6 | -0.01% | 0 |
| XSO | S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries | 2414.4 | 0.8 | 0.03% | 164.34m |
Major Index Internals
| XAO | XSO | ASX20 | |
| Advances | 157 | 60 | 7 |
| Declines | 208 | 87 | 12 |
| Advancing Volume | 239.6m | 63.26m | 72.21m |
| Declining Volume | 268.39m | 67.25m | 55.7m |
S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices
The top sector for the day was Telecommunications which gained 1.09% to 1856.40 points. The sector only has two stocks in it (what a joke), and all of the upside was done by Telstra, with Telecom NZ actually falling for the day.
- Telstra Corporation. (TLS), +$0.07 (1.36%) to $5.23 on volume of 40.88m shares;
- Telecom Corporation Of New Zealand (TEL), -$0.02 (0.35%) to $5.76 on volume of 2.65m shares.
Second in the sector leadership stakes was Information Technology which gained 0.47% to 423.60 points. The sector leaders were -
- IRESS Market Technology (IRE), +$0.19 (4.76%) to $4.18 on volume of 219,000 shares;
- Baycorp Advantage (BCA), +$0.05 (1.56%) to $3.26 on volume of 768,000 shares;
- MYOB (MYO), +$0.01 (0.85%) to $1.18 on volume of 485,000 shares;
- ERG (ERG), -$0.00 (0%) to $0.32 on volume of 697,000 shares; and
- Computershare. (CPU), -$0.02 (0.3%) to $6.54 on volume of 2.17m shares.
The bronze today went to Industrials which gained 0.46% to 5181.10 points. The sector was led by
- Hills Motorway Group (HLY), +$0.29 (2.62%) to $11.35 on volume of 465,000 shares;
- PMP (PMP), +$0.04 (1.84%) to $2.21 on volume of 909,000 shares;
- Macquarie Infrastructure Group (MIG), +$0.07 (1.84%) to $3.88 on volume of 6.52m shares;
- Transurban Group (TCL), +$0.14 (1.82%) to $7.83 on volume of 4.17m shares; and
- Adsteam Marine (ADZ), +$0.02 (1.29%) to $1.57 on volume of 589,000 shares.
The worst-performed sector today was Property Trusts which lost 0.72% to 1846.80 points. The sector was dragged lower by
- Westfield Group (WDC), -$0.40 (2.31%) to $16.90 on volume of 7.83m shares;
- ING Office Fund (IOF), -$0.02 (1.56%) to $1.26 on volume of 2.32m shares; and
- Thakral Holdings Group (THG), -$0.01 (1.32%) to $0.75 on volume of 1.15m shares;
- Macquarie Office Trust (MOF), -$0.01 (0.78%) to $1.27 on volume of 15.2m shares; and
- CFS Gandel Retail Trust (GAN), -$0.01 (0.63%) to $1.58 on volume of 1.22m shares.
Just in front of last place on the sector table was Financials which lost 0.62% to 4969.00 points. The sector was pulled down by
- AMP Limited (AMP), -$0.20 (2.55%) to $7.63 on volume of 11.39m shares;
- Insurance Australia Group (IAG), -$0.13 (1.87%) to $6.82 on volume of 3.08m shares; and
- ING Office Fund (IOF), -$0.02 (1.56%) to $1.26 on volume of 2.32m shares;
- Promina Group (PMN), -$0.08 (1.43%) to $5.52 on volume of 2.52m shares; and
- Challenger Financial Services Group (CGF), -$0.05 (1.43%) to $3.45 on volume of 669,000 shares.
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1856.4 | 20.1 | 1.09% | 43.53m |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 423.6 | 2 | 0.47% | 11.53m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 5181.1 | 23.7 | 0.46% | 39.5m |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 5527.6 | 13.4 | 0.24% | 59.89m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 2359 | -2.5 | -0.11% | 35.9m |
| XUJ | Utilities | 4757.1 | -10.7 | -0.22% | 4.74m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 4925.5 | -14.6 | -0.3% | 10.98m |
| XMJ | Materials | 7051.4 | -21.3 | -0.3% | 124.86m |
| XEJ | Energy | 7366.8 | -27.3 | -0.37% | 17.86m |
| XXJ | ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts | 5004.2 | -30.1 | -0.6% | 56.97m |
| XFJ | Financials | 4969 | -31.2 | -0.62% | 137.68m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1846.8 | -13.4 | -0.72% | 88.55m |
All Ordinaries Volume Leaders
Telstra is shaping very nicely - I have long held the country's monopoly telco in high esteem (let's not pretend it's not a monopoly de facto - that would be stupid).
The fact that it has taken them five months to install a second line here at Rant Central (in fact it's still not installed), is testament to the hollowness of their legislatively required commitment to "Roorl'n'Reejn'l Straya".
That might be bad PR, but it is good for shareholders, and there's no way the Gummint dares push them on it - first, as far as the "Right" is concerned businesses exist to have their butts kissed (only single mothers and aboriginals do wrong) and to provide munchies at festive occasions and hand over electoral donations. Second, there's no money to be made by providing telecommunications to the bush, so TLS is wise - from a business perspective - to simply ignore any complaints. So what if it winds up on A Current Affair? That can be taken care of by buying a counter-story on one of the other networks.
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation. | 5.23 | 0.07 | 1.36% | 40.88m |
| ADY | Admiralty Resources. | 0.12 | 0 | 0% | 23.89m |
| LHG | Lihir Gold | 1.02 | -0.03 | -2.86% | 20.75m |
| FGL | Foster's Group | 5.42 | 0.02 | 0.37% | 16.34m |
| WMR | WMC Resources | 7.52 | -0.06 | -0.79% | 16.25m |
| MOF | Macquarie Office Trust | 1.27 | -0.01 | -0.78% | 15.2m |
All Ordinaries Top Gainers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| GDM | Goldstream Mining | 0.42 | 0.06 | 15.07% | 313000 |
| RKN | Reckon | 0.82 | 0.07 | 9.33% | 360754 |
| BOC | Bougainville Copper | 0.52 | 0.04 | 8.33% | 252480 |
| UXC | UXC | 0.96 | 0.07 | 7.87% | 1.02m |
| MST | Metal Storm | 0.22 | 0.02 | 7.5% | 4.1m |
All Ordinaries Top Losers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| NHC | New Hope Corporation | 1.53 | -0.22 | -12.57% | 585956 |
| TIR | Titan Resources | 0.075 | -0.01 | -11.76% | 5.27m |
| BCL | Betcorp | 0.22 | -0.03 | -10.2% | 901600 |
| JFM | JF Meridian Trust | 1.37 | -0.1 | -6.8% | 157085 |
| EOS | Electro Optic Systems Holdings | 5.1 | -0.36 | -6.59% | 146091 |
Elsewhere in the Region...
The region was pretty mixed - Japan was barely changed, while Korea and Singkers went berserk.
The Kiwi Market advanced 4.23 points (0.13%). Individual stocks that helped the advance included...
- Cavalier Corporation (CAV), +$0.18 (4.27%) to $4.40 on volume of 36,000 shares;
- Mainfreight Limited (MFT), +$0.10 (4.17%) to $2.50 on volume of 95,000 shares;
- Baycorp Advantage (BCA), +$0.12 (3.46%) to $3.59 on volume of 629,000 shares;
- Fisher & Paykel A (FPA), +$0.09 (2.69%) to $3.43 on volume of 1.76m shares;
- Steel & Tube Holdings (STU), +$0.10 (2.04%) to $5.00 on volume of 23,000 shares; and
- Telstra Corporatiion (TLS), +$0.11 (1.96%) to $5.71 on volume of 42,000 shares.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index advanced 50.63 points (0.37%). Individual stocks that contributed to the advance included...
- Lenovo Group (0992), +$0.08 (3.37%) to $2.30 on volume of 62.71m shares;
- Li & Fung (0494), +$0.25 (1.94%) to $13.15 on volume of 4.8m shares;
- Cosco Pacific (1199), +$0.25 (1.47%) to $17.30 on volume of 1.9m shares;
- CNOOC (0883), +$0.05 (1.27%) to $3.98 on volume of 26.9m shares;
- Denway Motors (0203), +$0.03 (0.87%) to $2.90 on volume of 23.2m shares; and
- Bank Of East Asia (0023), +$0.20 (0.85%) to $23.60 on volume of 1.88m shares.
| Country | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| New Zealand | NZSE50 | 3148.608 | 4.23 | 0.13% | 23.12m |
| Japan | Nikkei 225 | 11499.14 | -0.72 | -0.01% | 91423 |
| Korea | KOSPI | 949.19 | 15.64 | 1.68% | 421374 |
| Singapore | Straits Times | 2140.16 | 22.06 | 1.04% | 0 |
| Hong Kong | Hang Seng | 13845.63 | 50.63 | 0.37% | 218.21m |
| Malaysia | KLSE Comp | 914.05 | 1.47 | 0.16% | 0 |
