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Major Market Indices
The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries - rose by 13.60 points (0.33%), finishing at 4185.80 points. The index hit an intraday high of 4197.80 and its low was 4165.6.
The Index that forms the cash basis for the SFE's Share Price Index Futures - the S&P/ASX 200 - rose by 13.70 points (0.33%), finishing at 4205.20 points. Once the XJO got through 4200 decisively (after lunch) futures-led stop-loss buying triggered a breakout to 4220 within 25 minutes... funny how thin markets make for exciting action - it's like one-day cricket when the game's a complete mismatch (say, Australia vs Bangladesh). I will be interested to see Bill McLaren's next analysis - he had a long-standing target of 4200 (posted months ago) but I was sure he expected it to be achieved some time ago.
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders - rose by 9.10 points (0.40%), finishing at 2273.70 points. Within the index members, there were 14 that rose, and 6 losers. Total volume in rising issues within the ASX20 amounted to 56.3 while volume in the losers totalled 52.77m units.
The major winners in the "big guns" were -
- QBE Insurance Group (QBE), +$0.27 (1.81%) to $15.17 on volume of 2.99m shares;
- Foster's Group (FGL), +$0.09 (1.74%) to $5.27 on volume of 6.89m shares;
- Wesfarmers (WES), +$0.66 (1.69%) to $39.65 on volume of 1.07m shares;
- News Corporation (NWSLV), +$0.36 (1.69%) to $21.64 on volume of 1.93m shares; and
- News Corporation (NWS), +$0.30 (1.36%) to $22.28 on volume of 3.48m shares.
The following stocks made up the biggest percentage losers in the big-guns:
- Telstra Corporation. (TLS), -$0.07 (1.29%) to $5.36 on volume of 31.56m shares;
- Coles Myer Ltd. (CML), -$0.09 (0.94%) to $9.49 on volume of 6.23m shares;
- Woolworths (WOW), -$0.11 (0.69%) to $15.81 on volume of 2.8m shares;
- Westfield Group (WDC), -$0.04 (0.24%) to $16.85 on volume of 7.42m shares; and
- Commonwealth Bank Of Australia. (CBA), -$0.02 (0.06%) to $36.00 on volume of 1.77m 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 1.80 points (0.08%), finishing at 2377.10 points. The major winners in the "pop-guns" were -
- Mosaic Oil (MOS), +$0.02 (8.33%) to $0.20 on volume of 5.33m shares;
- Agenix (AGX), +$0.03 (7.5%) to $0.43 on volume of 255,000 shares;
- Multiemedia (MUL), +$0.00 (7.41%) to $0.03 on volume of 3.54m shares;
- Sirtex Medical (SRX), +$0.13 (7.14%) to $1.95 on volume of 38,000 shares; and
- Ventracor (VCR), +$0.06 (5.41%) to $1.17 on volume of 1.29m shares.
The losingest-little-guys for the session were (in order of decline):
- Kingsgate Consolidated. (KCN), -$0.20 (8.89%) to $2.05 on volume of 575,000 shares;
- Virotec International (VTI), -$0.04 (6.25%) to $0.60 on volume of 557,000 shares; and
- Village Life Ltd (VLL), -$0.11 (6.21%) to $1.66 on volume of 1.37m shares;
- Globe International (GLB), -$0.02 (5.33%) to $0.36 on volume of 410,000 shares; and
- Invocare (IVC), -$0.16 (4.21%) to $3.64 on volume of 159,000 shares.
| Index Changes | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 4185.8 | 13.6 | 0.33% | 591.94m |
| XTL | S&P/ASX 20 | 2273.7 | 9.1 | 0.4% | 109.07m |
| XFL | S&P/ASX 50 | 4158.2 | 15.9 | 0.38% | 0 |
| XTO | S&P/ASX 100 | 3420.5 | 11.6 | 0.34% | 0 |
| XJO | S&P/ASX 200 | 4205.2 | 13.7 | 0.33% | 468.53m |
| XKO | S&P/ASX 300 | 4209.1 | 13.3 | 0.32% | 0 |
| XMD | S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 4039.6 | 3.4 | 0.08% | 0 |
| XSO | S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries | 2377.1 | 1.8 | 0.08% | 151.05m |
All Ordinaries Market Internals
| Market Breadth | |||||
| XAO | XJO | +/- | % | Volume | |
| Advances | 187 | 97 | 79 | 14 | 786 |
| Declines | 172 | 73 | 76 | 6 | 737 |
| Advancing Volume | 249.95m | 216.54m | 67.01m | 56.3 | 552.31 |
| Declining Volume | 252.33m | 202.92m | 69.36m | 52.77 | 505.94 |
S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices
The top sector for the day was Energy which gained 1.39% to 7813.50 points; the renewed strength in Crude helped plenty. The sector was helped by
- Santos (STO), +$0.37 (4.27%) to $9.03 on volume of 2.95m shares;
- Australian Worldwide Exploration (AWE), +$0.05 (2.92%) to $1.76 on volume of 1.69m shares;
- Origin Energy (ORG), +$0.19 (2.82%) to $6.92 on volume of 4m shares;
- Arc Energy (ARQ), +$0.05 (2.62%) to $1.96 on volume of 679,000 shares; and
- Hardman Resources (HDR), +$0.03 (1.54%) to $1.98 on volume of 2.6m shares.
Second in the sector leadership stakes was Consumer Discretionary which gained 0.98% to 2292.70 points. The sector leaders were -
- Publishing & Broadcasting (PBL), +$0.47 (3.03%) to $15.97 on volume of 2.41m shares;
- STW Communications Group (SGN), +$0.06 (2.05%) to $2.98 on volume of 202,000 shares;
- Unitab (UTB), +$0.24 (1.78%) to $13.74 on volume of 373,000 shares;
- Fleetwood Corporation (FWD), +$0.15 (1.77%) to $8.63 on volume of 245,000 shares; and
- News Corporation (NWSLV), +$0.36 (1.69%) to $21.64 on volume of 1.93m shares.
The bronze today went to ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts which gained 0.61% to 5006.40 points. The sector was led by
- Challenger Financial Services Group (CGF), +$0.12 (3.9%) to $3.20 on volume of 2.13m shares;
- IOOF Holdings (IFL), +$0.16 (2.27%) to $7.20 on volume of 129,000 shares;
- Macquarie Bank (MBL), +$1.08 (2.24%) to $49.27 on volume of 755,000 shares;
- QBE Insurance Group (QBE), +$0.27 (1.81%) to $15.17 on volume of 2.99m shares; and
- Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), +$0.35 (1.67%) to $21.35 on volume of 362,000 shares.
The worst-performed sector today was Information Technology which lost 1.14% to 371.60 points. The sector was dragged lower by
- MYOB (MYO), -$0.05 (4.03%) to $1.19 on volume of 111,000 shares;
- ERG (ERG), -$0.01 (2.78%) to $0.35 on volume of 6.39m shares;
- Computershare (CPU), -$0.09 (1.59%) to $5.58 on volume of 1.25m shares;
- Baycorp Advantage (BCA), -$0.02 (0.71%) to $2.80 on volume of 456,000 shares; and
- IRESS Market Technology (IRE), -$0.00 (0%) to $4.20 on volume of 359,000 shares.
Just in front of last place on the sector table was Telecommunications which lost 1.07% to 1904.80 points. In a sector that's only got two stocks in it, and where one is about 15 times the market cap of the other, it's not hard to trace the source of the sector when it moves. You guessed it - Telstra fell. The sector was pulled down by
- Telstra Corporation. (TLS), -$0.07 (1.29%) to $5.36 on volume of 31.56m shares; and
- Telecom Corporation Of New Zealand (TEL), actually rose a cent (0.17%) to $5.95 on volume of 2.07m shares.
| Sector Indices | |||||
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XEJ | Energy | 7813.5 | 106.8 | 1.39% | 21.37m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 2292.7 | 22.2 | 0.98% | 46.48m |
| XXJ | ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts | 5006.4 | 30.2 | 0.61% | 52.07m |
| XFJ | Financials | 4938.3 | 22.4 | 0.46% | 151.37m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 4898.8 | 13.5 | 0.28% | 15.76m |
| XMJ | Materials | 7456.9 | 18.6 | 0.25% | 89.73m |
| XUJ | Utilities | 4740.5 | 3.7 | 0.08% | 6.11m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 5043.7 | 3.1 | 0.06% | 53.94m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1792.7 | -1.6 | -0.09% | 106.73m |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 5564.8 | -9.2 | -0.17% | 50.34m |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1904.8 | -20.6 | -1.07% | 33.64m |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 371.6 | -4.3 | -1.14% | 9.41m |
| All Ords Volume Leaders | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation. | 5.36 | -0.07 | -1.29% | 31.56m |
| ADY | Admiralty Resources. | 0.16 | 0.02 | 14.29% | 29.35m |
| CSE | Copper Strike | 0.32 | -0.05 | -12.33% | 17.29m |
| BHP | BHP Billiton | 19.04 | 0.09 | 0.47% | 15.51m |
| AUN | Austar United Communications | 0.82 | -0.01 | -1.2% | 14.32m |
| QAN | Qantas Airways | 3.57 | -0.1 | -2.72% | 13.75m |
| All Ords Percentage Gainers | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| ABI | Ambri | 0.13 | 0.02 | 13.64% | 10.84m |
| AGI | Ainsworth Game Technology | 0.86 | 0.09 | 11.69% | 675672 |
| MOS | Mosaic Oil | 0.2 | 0.02 | 8.33% | 5.33m |
| AGX | Agenix | 0.43 | 0.03 | 7.5% | 255350 |
| MUL | Multiemedia | 0.029 | 0.002 | 7.41% | 3.54m |
| All Ords Percentage Decliners | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| SRI | Sipa Resources | 0.1 | -0.01 | -9.09% | 1.89m |
| KCN | Kingsgate Consolidated. | 2.05 | -0.2 | -8.89% | 575117 |
| VTI | Virotec International | 0.6 | -0.04 | -6.25% | 556542 |
| VLL | Village Life Ltd | 1.66 | -0.11 | -6.21% | 1.37m |
| IHG | Intellect Holdings | 0.033 | -0.002 | -5.71% | 1.98m |
Elsewhere in the Region...
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 42.75 points (0.36%) to close at 11856.46 points.
The Kiwi Market declined a scant 3.86 points (-0.12%), but only a 10-point rally into the close (which took place over the last 90 minutes) saved it from a slightly more embarrassing result. A total of 16 stocks within the NZSE50 rose, with volume in advancers totalling 7.2million units. Decliners numbered 18, and total volume traded in losers was 7million shares. Individual stocks that were a but suck included...
- Waste Management (WAM), -$0.17 (2.54%) to $6.53 on volume of 213,000 shares;
- Pumpkin Patch (PPL), -$0.06 (1.78%) to $3.32 on volume of 115,000 shares;
- Kiwi Income Property (KIP), -$0.02 (1.72%) to $1.14 on volume of 803,000 shares;
- Auckland International Airport (AIA), -$0.11 (1.29%) to $8.44 on volume of 380,000 shares; and
- Fisher & Paykel H (FPH), -$0.04 (1.27%) to $3.11 on volume of 676,000 shares.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index advanced 11.36 points (0.08%). Within the Hang Seng, 14 index components rose, while 12 stocks fell. Volume in the gainers in Hong Kong's big-cap index totalled 71.3million units, and total volume traded in losers was 34.5million shares. Individual stocks that contributed to the advance included...
- Cosco Pacific (1199), +$0.30 (1.75%) to $17.40 on volume of 2.17m shares;
- CNOOC (0883), +$0.08 (1.71%) to $4.45 on volume of 27.54m shares;
- Li & Fung (0494), +$0.20 (1.52%) to $13.35 on volume of 1.61m shares;
- China Unicom (0762), +$0.10 (1.42%) to $7.15 on volume of 9.39m shares;
- Lenovo Group (0992), +$0.03 (1.14%) to $2.23 on volume of 4.47m shares; and
- Citic Pacific (0267), +$0.20 (0.91%) to $22.25 on volume of 841,000 shares.
| Regional Indices | |||||
| Country | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| New Zealand | NZSE50 | 3195.341 | -3.86 | -0.12% | 22.35m |
| Japan | Nikkei 225 | 11856.46 | 42.75 | 0.36% | 98459 |
| Korea | KOSPI | 1010.92 | 3.44 | 0.34% | 605834 |
| Singapore | Straits Times | 2145.81 | 1.45 | 0.07% | 0 |
| Hong Kong | Hang Seng | 13862.14 | 11.36 | 0.08% | 138.87m |
| Malaysia | KLSE Comp | 893.95 | 2.05 | 0.23% | 0 |
