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Major Market Indices
The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries - rose by 5.10 points (0.12%), finishing at 4146.30 points. The index hit an intraday high of 4153.70 and its low was 4141.2 - the low was set at just after 10:20 a.m., after a little gap up followed by a pullback..
The the S&P/ASX 200 rose by 6.00 points (0.14%), finishing at 4151.30 points. It had a slightly greater intraday range than the All Ords - 16 points for the ASX200 versus 12 for the XAO - and the ASX200 set its high (at 4160.60) at 2:30 p.m. - the same time as the All Ords. Of course this should not surprise anybody given the significant overlap in index components.
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders - rose by a meagre 1.50 points (0.07%), finishing at 2195.40 points. The Big20 was evenly split - 10 stocks rising, 10 falling - but volume was in the gainers by about 72 million shares (gainers) to 50 mill (losers). The major winners in the "big guns" were -
- Foster's Group (FGL), +$0.12 (2.29%) to $5.37 on volume of 11.46m shares;
- Coles Myer Ltd. (CML), +$0.18 (1.93%) to $9.49 on volume of 7.47m shares;
- Rio Tinto (RIO), +$0.72 (1.66%) to $44.10 on volume of 2.21m shares;
- BHP Billiton (BHP), +$0.23 (1.36%) to $17.11 on volume of 16.66m shares; and
- Telstra Corporation. (TLS), +$0.06 (1.2%) to $5.07 on volume of 21.6m shares.
The following stocks made up the biggest percentage losers in the big-guns:
- Woodside Petroleum (WPL), -$0.39 (1.88%) to $20.36 on volume of 2.29m shares;
- Alumina (AWC), -$0.10 (1.64%) to $6.00 on volume of 7.71m shares; and
- News Corporation (NWS), -$0.37 (1.64%) to $22.22 on volume of 7.24m shares;
- News Corporation (NWSLV), -$0.33 (1.52%) to $21.34 on volume of 5.61m shares; and
- AMP Limited (AMP), -$0.12 (1.52%) to $7.78 on volume of 7.33m 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 - rose by 2.40 points (0.10%), finishing at 2409.70 points. The major winners in the "pop-guns" were -
- Austral Coal (AUO), +$0.13 (13.27%) to $1.11 on volume of 23.73m shares - continuing its recent run following production reports from Tahmoor (mentioned here yesterday). It's something to worry about when the market moves twice... once for the ASX release, and once for when the nuffnuffs get it in their inbox... too much speculation in this stock, I'm afraid;
- Mincor Resources (MCR), +$0.06 (9.68%) to $0.68 on volume of 11.45m shares;
- Oceana Gold (OGD), +$0.05 (7.35%) to $0.73 on volume of 1.36m shares;
- Bendigo Mining (BDG), +$0.06 (6.67%) to $0.96 on volume of 804,000 shares; and
- Burns, Philp & Company (BPC), +$0.05 (5.68%) to $0.93 on volume of 25.52m shares after releasing better than expected earnings and providing good guidance on the performance of its Goodman arm.
The losingest-little-guys for the session were (in order of decline):
- Antares Energy (AZZ), -$0.03 (4.55%) to $0.63 on volume of 552,000 shares;
- Cellestis (CST), -$0.13 (4%) to $3.12 on volume of 144,000 shares; and
- SFE Corporation (SFE), -$0.39 (3.61%) to $10.41 on volume of 734,000 shares;
- Genetic Technologies (GTG), -$0.02 (3.39%) to $0.57 on volume of 518,000 shares; and
- Multiemedia (MUL), -$0.00 (3.23%) to $0.03 on volume of 3.6m shares.
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 4146.3 | 5.1 | 0.12% | 704.61m |
| XTL | S&P/ASX 20 | 2195.4 | 1.5 | 0.07% | 122.5m |
| XFL | S&P/ASX 50 | 4067.9 | 5.3 | 0.13% | 0 |
| XTO | S&P/ASX 100 | 3370.6 | 5.3 | 0.16% | 0 |
| XJO | S&P/ASX 200 | 4151.3 | 6 | 0.14% | 0 |
| XKO | S&P/ASX 300 | 4158.1 | 6.4 | 0.15% | 0 |
| XMD | S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 4158.3 | 13.2 | 0.32% | 0 |
| XSO | S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries | 2409.7 | 2.4 | 0.1% | 218.57m |
All Ordinaries Market Internals
| XAO | XSO | |
| Advances | 187 | 76 |
| Declines | 164 | 73 |
| Advancing Volume | 359.88m | 126.64m |
| Declining Volume | 254.43m | 64.79m |
Broad Market Internals
| Indicator | Level | +/- | % |
| Advances | 428 | 1 | 0.23 |
| Declines | 454 | 8 | 1.79 |
| Unchanged | 335 | -13 | -3.74 |
| Total Traded Value | 3770 | -197 | -4.97 |
| New 52 Week Highs | 83 | 13 | 18.57 |
| New 52 Week Lows | 16 | -5 | -23.81 |
| Equity Call Option Volume | 60500 | -16770 | -21.7 |
| Equity Put Option Volume | 48835 | 7312 | 17.61 |
S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices
The top sector for the day was Utilities which gained 1.41% to 4788.60 points. The sector was helped by
- Australian Gas Light Company (AGL), +$0.32 (2.26%) to $14.51 on volume of 1.83m shares;
- Pacific Hydro (PHY), +$0.06 (1.31%) to $4.65 on volume of 577,000 shares;
- Alinta (ALN), +$0.05 (0.57%) to $8.83 on volume of 771,000 shares;
- Australian Pipeline Trust (APA), +$0.01 (0.27%) to $3.71 on volume of 340,000 shares; and
- Diversified Utility And Energy Trusts (DUE), -$0.00 (0%) to $2.60 on volume of 1.63m shares.
Second in the sector leadership stakes was Consumer Staples which gained 1.20% to 5467.90 points. The sector leaders were -
- Burns, Philp & Company (BPC), +$0.05 (5.68%) to $0.93 on volume of 25.52m shares;
- Ridley Corporation (RIC), +$0.05 (3.5%) to $1.48 on volume of 295,000 shares;
- Foster's Group (FGL), +$0.12 (2.29%) to $5.37 on volume of 11.46m shares;
- Coles Myer Ltd. (CML), +$0.18 (1.93%) to $9.49 on volume of 7.35m shares; and
- Coca-Cola Amatil (CCL), +$0.08 (1.02%) to $7.95 on volume of 1.59m shares.
The bronze today went to Healthcare which gained 1.11% to 4807.20 points. The sector was led by
- CSL (CSL), +$0.81 (2.57%) to $32.35 on volume of 1.05m shares;
- Mayne Group (MAY), +$0.07 (1.49%) to $4.77 on volume of 2.96m shares;
- Sonic Healthcare (SHL), +$0.15 (1.32%) to $11.50 on volume of 545,000 shares;
- Ansell (ANN), +$0.09 (0.97%) to $9.37 on volume of 181,000 shares; and
- Invocare (IVC), +$0.03 (0.89%) to $3.40 on volume of 183,000 shares.
The worst-performed sector today was Consumer Discretionary which lost 0.96% to 2331.70 points. The sector was dragged lower by
- Unitab (UTB), -$0.39 (2.93%) to $12.91 on volume of 225,000 shares;
- JB Hi-Fi (JBH), -$0.09 (2.48%) to $3.54 on volume of 1.54m shares; and
- Tabcorp Holdings (TAH), -$0.33 (1.89%) to $17.17 on volume of 1.59m shares;
- Fairfax Holdings (FXJ), -$0.08 (1.71%) to $4.60 on volume of 5.5m shares; and
- Housewares International (HWI), -$0.04 (1.69%) to $2.32 on volume of 256,000 shares.
Just in front of last place on the sector table was Property Trusts which lost 0.84% to 1822.00 points. The sector was pulled down by
- Macquarie Countrywide Trust (MCW), -$0.04 (1.9%) to $2.06 on volume of 6.91m shares;
- Investa Property Group (IPG), -$0.04 (1.87%) to $2.10 on volume of 3.46m shares; and
- Macquarie Prologis Trust (MPR), -$0.02 (1.77%) to $1.11 on volume of 7.25m shares;
- Mirvac Group (MGR), -$0.07 (1.5%) to $4.60 on volume of 5.03m shares; and
- Valad Property Group (VPG), -$0.02 (1.49%) to $1.32 on volume of 5.24m shares.
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XUJ | Utilities | 4788.6 | 66.5 | 1.41% | 5.75m |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 5467.9 | 64.8 | 1.2% | 57.42m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 4807.2 | 52.8 | 1.11% | 9.99m |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1803.8 | 19.1 | 1.07% | 22.16m |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 417.2 | 3 | 0.72% | 8.91m |
| XMJ | Materials | 7098.9 | 41.6 | 0.59% | 122.6m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 5109.2 | 20.2 | 0.4% | 54.21m |
| XEJ | Energy | 7342.9 | 19 | 0.26% | 28.5m |
| XXJ | ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts | 4981.4 | -3.7 | -0.07% | 100.12m |
| XFJ | Financials | 4936.6 | -12 | -0.24% | 205.27m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1822 | -15.4 | -0.84% | 107.88m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 2331.7 | -22.6 | -0.96% | 42.06m |
All Ordinaries Volume Leaders
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| HHG | HHG Plc | 1.65 | 0.10 | 6.45% | 44.33m |
| WMR | WMC Resources | 7.54 | -0.11 | -1.44% | 28.97m |
| BMX | Bemax Resources | 0.14 | 0.01 | 3.7% | 26.92m |
| BPC | Burns, Philp & Company | 0.93 | 0.05 | 5.68% | 25.52m |
| AUO | Austral Coal | 1.11 | 0.13 | 13.27% | 23.73m |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation. | 5.07 | 0.06 | 1.2% | 21.6m |
All Ordinaries Top Gainers
The world's gone a bit Resources-mad at present - they're all producing solid earnings and activity reports, but that's to be expected in an environment where commodity prices have been galloping (in USD terms at least), and where a load of trade is being conducted with the economic powerhouse to our North (China, dummy... the mob that I've been on about for YEARS).
Furthermore, since most of the Resource Analysts at the ticket-clippers are the guys who used to be the coffee boy, the level of analysis is leaving plenty of scope for over performance (since the analysts - rather than being healthily skeptical - are actually hedging their calls for fear of being made to look stupid).
It will be another 12 months before the coffee-lads are converted to belief in Resources as the Next Big Thing... just in time for them to tip clients in at the top.
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| TIR | Titan Resources | 0.068 | 0.008 | 13.33% | 1.14m |
| AUO | Austral Coal | 1.11 | 0.13 | 13.27% | 23.73m |
| CBH | CBH Resources | 0.27 | 0.03 | 10.42% | 7.47m |
| FPF | Flexi Property Fund | 0.64 | 0.06 | 10.34% | 172500 |
| MCR | Mincor Resources | 0.68 | 0.06 | 9.68% | 11.45m |
All Ordinaries Top Losers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| ADA | Adacel Technologies | 0.38 | -0.04 | -8.43% | 148670 |
| BOC | Bougainville Copper | 0.55 | -0.04 | -6.78% | 127060 |
| TKR | Triako Resources | 1.26 | -0.09 | -6.67% | 73851 |
| IHG | Intellect Holdings | 0.032 | -0.002 | -5.88% | 5.12m |
| OMI | Occupational & Medical Innovations | 0.98 | -0.05 | -4.85% | 55178 |
Elsewhere in the Region...
Japan couldn't hold yesterday's moderate strength, carmakers were soft and export-oriented firms (electrical manufacturers and so forth) were also pretty tepid. That said, tech manufacturers were pretty solid with Canon, NEC and Sony all in the plus column for he session, and Yahoo Japan and Vodafone KK were up as well..
The Kiwi Market advanced 5.44 points (0.18%). Individual stocks that rose included...
- Auckland International Airport(AIA), +$0.28 (3.43%) to $8.45 on volume of 3.4m shares;
- Property Forest Industries (PFI), +$0.03 (2.86%) to $1.08 on volume of 84,000 shares;
- Ryman Healthcare (RYM), +$0.10 (2.74%) to $3.75 on volume of 141,000 shares;
- AXA Asia Pacific (AXA), +$0.11 (2.42%) to $4.66 on volume of 15,000 shares;
- The Warehouse Group (WHS), +$0.08 (2.07%) to $3.94 on volume of 540,000 shares; and
- Sky Network Television (SKY), +$0.10 (1.64%) to $6.20 on volume of 22,000 shares.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index declined 34.45 points (-0.25%). Individual stocks that contributed to the decline included...
- CNOOC (0883), -$0.20 (4.85%) to $3.93 on volume of 104.77m shares;
- China Resources (0291), -$0.15 (1.3%) to $11.35 on volume of 949,000 shares;
- Cosco Pacific (1199), -$0.20 (1.25%) to $15.85 on volume of 1.56m shares;
- HK& China Gas (0003), -$0.15 (0.95%) to $15.70 on volume of 1.93m shares;
- Henderson Investments (0097), -$0.10 (0.93%) to $10.70 on volume of 609,000 shares; and
- Denway Motors (0203), -$0.03 (0.88%) to $2.80 on volume of 20.46m shares.
| Country | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| New Zealand | NZSE50 | 3097.317 | 5.44 | 0.18% | 31.12m |
| Japan | Nikkei 225 | 11379.22 | -27.92 | -0.24% | 82823 |
| Korea | KOSPI | 928.9 | 7.46 | 0.81% | 334840 |
| Singapore | Straits Times | 2107.25 | -1.44 | -0.07% | 0 |
| Hong Kong | Hang Seng | 13521.35 | -34.45 | -0.25% | 216.97m |
| Malaysia | KLSE Comp | 916.47 | -2.04 | -0.22% | 0 |
Main SFE Futures Contracts
[Commentary]
| Code | Instrument | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| SP1 | SPI200 Index SFE | 4141 | 6 | 0.15% | 9774 |
| IR1 | 90-day Bank Bills SFE | 94.39 | -0.02 | -0.02% | 11831 |
| YT1 | 3-yr Bond SFE | 94.71 | -0.03 | -0.03% | 44103 |
| XT1 | 10-yr Bond SFE | 94.65 | -0.02 | -0.02% | 16112 |
