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Major Market Indices
The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries - rose by 16.10 points (0.38%), finishing at 4201.90 points. The index hit an intraday high of 4209.80 and its low was 4185.80. The low was set at the open, and the intraday high was set just before 11 a.m.; from there it just flopped around for the rest of the session with a downward bias - until someone got back from lunch half-elephants, and leant on a keyboard, taking the market down ten points failrly quickly. But thankfully danger was averted, since everyone now will expect 4200 to act as support. It worked intraday, but I would not pin my hopes on using it for very much longer.
The Index that forms the cash basis for the SFE's Share Price Index Futures - the S&P/ASX 200 - rose by 15.20 points (0.36%), finishing at 4220.40 points. Same trajectory as the XAO - as usual.
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders - rose by 10.00 points (0.44%), finishing at 2283.70 points. Within the index members, there were 12 that rose, and 8 losers. Total volume in rising issues within the ASX20 amounted to 58.81 while volume in the losers totalled 31.73m units.
The theme of the day - being Friday - was "beta and banks". (Remember when rising interest rates were supposed to be BAD for banks?). Major winners in the "big guns" were -
- News Corporation (NWSLV), +$0.48 (2.22%) to $22.12 on volume of 4.05m shares;
- News Corporation (NWS), +$0.47 (2.11%) to $22.75 on volume of 6.57m shares;
- Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC), +$0.28 (1.46%) to $19.51 on volume of 3.15m shares;
- Commonwealth Bank Of Australia. (CBA), +$0.43 (1.19%) to $36.43 on volume of 1.73m shares; and
- Australia And New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), +$0.24 (1.11%) to $21.80 on volume of 2.12m shares.
The duds were all labelled "Resources" if you look at the contribution by market cap to the indices. The biggest percentage losers in the big-guns were slightly different, but still smell of Resources...
- Alumina (AWC), -$0.04 (0.67%) to $5.90 on volume of 4.97m shares;
- Westfield Group (WDC), -$0.10 (0.59%) to $16.75 on volume of 2.63m shares;
- Rio Tinto (RIO), -$0.26 (0.55%) to $46.91 on volume of 2.42m shares;
- BHP Billiton (BHP), -$0.09 (0.47%) to $18.95 on volume of 14.36m shares; and
- QBE Insurance Group (QBE), -$0.06 (0.4%) to $15.11 on volume of 1.59m shares.
At the smaller end of the market's capitalisation scale, the ASX Small Ordinaries Index rose by just 1.60 points (0.07%), finishing at 2378.70 points. The major winners in the "pop-guns" were -
- Highlands Pacific (HIG), +$0.04 (7.37%) to $0.51 on volume of 2.9m shares;
- Virotec International (VTI), +$0.04 (6.67%) to $0.64 on volume of 309,000 shares;
- Integrated Group (IWF), +$0.13 (5.99%) to $2.30 on volume of 96,000 shares;
- Kingsgate Consolidated. (KCN), +$0.12 (5.85%) to $2.17 on volume of 467,000 shares; and
- Kimberley Diamond Company. (KIM), +$0.05 (5.43%) to $0.97 on volume of 5.96m shares.
The losingest-little-guys for the session were (in order of decline):
- Australian Infrastructure Fund (AIX), -$0.20 (7.84%) to $2.35 on volume of 771,000 shares;
- Silex Systems (SLX), -$0.07 (5.74%) to $1.15 on volume of 361,000 shares; and
- Metabolic Pharmaceuticals (MBP), -$0.05 (5.68%) to $0.83 on volume of 962,000 shares;
- Lynas Corporation (LYC), -$0.02 (5%) to $0.29 on volume of 447,000 shares; and
- Sino Gold (SGX), -$0.10 (4.76%) to $2.00 on volume of 80,000 shares.
| Index Changes | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 4201.9 | 16.1 | 0.38% | 512.22m |
| XTL | S&P/ASX 20 | 2283.7 | 10 | 0.44% | 90.54m |
| XFL | S&P/ASX 50 | 4175.4 | 17.2 | 0.41% | 0 |
| XTO | S&P/ASX 100 | 3433.8 | 13.3 | 0.39% | 0 |
| XJO | S&P/ASX 200 | 4220.4 | 15.2 | 0.36% | 380.23m |
| XKO | S&P/ASX 300 | 4224.3 | 15.2 | 0.36% | 0 |
| XMD | S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 4048.4 | 8.8 | 0.22% | 0 |
| XSO | S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries | 2378.7 | 1.6 | 0.07% | 150.24m |
All Ordinaries Market Internals
| Market Breadth | |||||
| XAO | XJO | +/- | % | Volume | |
| Advances | 191 | 95 | 74 | 12 | 848 |
| Declines | 179 | 82 | 77 | 8 | 692 |
| Advancing Volume | 242.05m | 197.85m | 57.79m | 58.81 | 549.59 |
| Declining Volume | 182.65m | 153.67m | 58.7m | 31.73 | 390.02 |
S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices
The top sector for the day was Consumer Discretionary which gained 1.28% to 2322.10 points. The sector was helped by
- JB Hi-Fi (JBH), +$0.16 (4.01%) to $4.15 on volume of 861,000 shares;
- News Corporation (NWSLV), +$0.48 (2.22%) to $22.12 on volume of 4.05m shares;
- News Corporation (NWS), +$0.47 (2.11%) to $22.75 on volume of 6.57m shares;
- Housewares International (HWI), +$0.04 (1.98%) to $2.06 on volume of 363,000 shares; and
- Publishing & Broadcasting (PBL), +$0.30 (1.88%) to $16.27 on volume of 3.77m shares.
Second in the sector leadership stakes was ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts which gained 0.78% to 5045.20 points. The sector leaders were -
- IOOF Holdings (IFL), +$0.20 (2.78%) to $7.40 on volume of 130,000 shares;
- Record Investments (RCD), +$0.16 (2.77%) to $5.93 on volume of 272,000 shares;
- SFE Corporation (SFE), +$0.20 (2.14%) to $9.53 on volume of 1.01m shares;
- Insurance Australia Group (IAG), +$0.13 (2.02%) to $6.55 on volume of 2.44m shares; and
- Perpetual Trustees Australia (PPT), +$0.90 (1.49%) to $61.40 on volume of 39,000 shares.
The bronze today went to Industrials which gained 0.72% to 5079.80 points. The sector was led by
- Coates Hire (COA), +$0.19 (4.1%) to $4.82 on volume of 670,000 shares;
- Leighton Holdings (LEI), +$0.41 (4.08%) to $10.47 on volume of 1.14m shares;
- Transurban Group (TCL), +$0.13 (1.77%) to $7.49 on volume of 2.25m shares;
- Hills Motorway Group (HLY), +$0.18 (1.67%) to $10.98 on volume of 292,000 shares; and
- Brambles Industries (BIL), +$0.12 (1.48%) to $8.25 on volume of 3.83m shares.
The worst-performed sector today was Property Trusts which lost 0.40% to 1785.50 points. The sector was dragged lower by
- Multiplex Group (MXG), -$0.16 (3.34%) to $4.63 on volume of 3.61m shares;
- Bunnings Warehouse Property Trust (BWP), -$0.02 (1.18%) to $1.67 on volume of 257,000 shares; and
- General Property Trust (GPT), -$0.03 (0.82%) to $3.63 on volume of 1.48m shares;
- Commonwealth Property Office Fund (CPA), -$0.01 (0.81%) to $1.22 on volume of 721,000 shares; and
- Macquarie Office Trust (MOF), -$0.01 (0.79%) to $1.25 on volume of 967,000 shares.
Just in front of last place on the sector table was Materials which lost 0.39% to 7427.50 points. The sector was pulled down by
- Zinifex (ZFX), -$0.14 (4.24%) to $3.16 on volume of 4.94m shares;
- Capral Aluminium (CAA), -$0.08 (3.77%) to $2.04 on volume of 447,000 shares; and
- Wattyl (WYL), -$0.11 (3.16%) to $3.37 on volume of 1.19m shares;
- Smorgon Steel Group. (SSX), -$0.04 (2.99%) to $1.30 on volume of 2.63m shares; and
- Minara Resources (MRE), -$0.05 (2.7%) to $1.80 on volume of 1.36m shares.
| Sector Indices | |||||
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 2322.1 | 29.4 | 1.28% | 41.44m |
| XXJ | ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts | 5045.2 | 38.8 | 0.78% | 35.16m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 5079.8 | 36.1 | 0.72% | 49.12m |
| XFJ | Financials | 4963.9 | 25.6 | 0.52% | 88.42m |
| XEJ | Energy | 7850.8 | 37.3 | 0.48% | 24.52m |
| XUJ | Utilities | 4759.2 | 18.7 | 0.39% | 8.11m |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 372.7 | 1.1 | 0.3% | 9.72m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 4911.7 | 12.9 | 0.26% | 7.92m |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1909.3 | 4.5 | 0.24% | 27.5m |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 5564.1 | -0.7 | -0.01% | 41.67m |
| XMJ | Materials | 7427.5 | -29.4 | -0.39% | 99.57m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1785.5 | -7.2 | -0.4% | 55.89m |
Key Movers
| All Ords Volume Leaders | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation. | 5.37 | 0.01 | 0.19% | 25.39m |
| ADY | Admiralty Resources. | 0.16 | 0 | 0% | 16.83m |
| MAP | Macquarie Airports | 3.19 | 0.03 | 0.95% | 15.65m |
| BHP | BHP Billiton | 18.95 | -0.09 | -0.47% | 14.36m |
| WMR | WMC Resources | 7.42 | -0.03 | -0.4% | 13.39m |
| MGI | Macquarie Goodman Industrial Trust | 2.36 | 0 | 0% | 11.35m |
| All Ords Percentage Gainers | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| OMI | Occupational & Medical Innovations | 0.8 | 0.31 | 63.27% | 238939 |
| BTA | Biota Holdings | 0.45 | 0.04 | 8.54% | 1.45m |
| BGF | Ballarat Goldfields | 0.22 | 0.02 | 7.5% | 8.49m |
| HIG | Highlands Pacific | 0.51 | 0.04 | 7.37% | 2.9m |
| VTI | Virotec International | 0.64 | 0.04 | 6.67% | 308605 |
| All Ords Percentage Decliners | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| ABI | Ambri | 0.12 | -0.01 | -8% | 2.15m |
| AIX | Australian Infrastructure Fund | 2.35 | -0.2 | -7.84% | 770991 |
| SLX | Silex Systems | 1.15 | -0.07 | -5.74% | 361361 |
| MBP | Metabolic Pharmaceuticals | 0.83 | -0.05 | -5.68% | 961723 |
| SPL | Starpharma Holdings | 0.84 | -0.05 | -5.62% | 208950 |
Elsewhere in the Region...
Japan's Nikkei 225 was up17.25 points (0.15%) at 11873.71 points at the time of writing.
The Kiwi Market advanced 4.75 points (0.15%). A total of 14 stocks within the NZSE50 rose, with volume in advancers totalling 9.6million units. Decliners numbered 21, and total volume traded in losers was 5.6million shares. The top gainers (in percentage terms) within the NZSE50 were as follows:
- Fletcher Building (FBU), +$0.17 (2.36%) to $7.38 on volume of 2.08m shares;
- Cavalier Corporation (CAV), +$0.08 (1.86%) to $4.38 on volume of 20,000 shares;
- Ryman Healthcare (RYM), +$0.05 (1.39%) to $3.65 on volume of 8,000 shares;
- Steel & Tube Holdings (STU), +$0.07 (1.28%) to $5.55 on volume of 23,000 shares;
- Contact Energy Limited (CEN), +$0.08 (1.14%) to $7.08 on volume of 480,000 shares; and
- Carter Holt Harvey (CAH), +$0.02 (0.89%) to $2.26 on volume of 2.69m shares.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index declined 32.43 points (-0.23%). Within the Hang Seng, 8 index components rose, while 13 stocks fell. Volume in the gainers in Hong Kong's big-cap index totalled 41.3million units, and total volume traded in losers was 61.3million shares. Individual stocks that contributed to the decline included...
- Li & Fung (0494), -$0.30 (2.23%) to $13.15 on volume of 828,000 shares;
- Hang Lung Property (0101), -$0.25 (2.12%) to $11.55 on volume of 6.47m shares;
- Johnson Electronics (0179), -$0.10 (1.35%) to $7.30 on volume of 2.52m shares;
- Henderson Investments (0097), -$0.10 (0.88%) to $11.25 on volume of 16,000 shares;
- Denway Motors (0203), -$0.03 (0.88%) to $2.83 on volume of 15.04m shares; and
- Hutchison Telecom (0013), -$0.50 (0.72%) to $69.00 on volume of 5.64m shares.
| Regional Indices | |||||
| Country | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| New Zealand | NZSE50 | 3200.088 | 4.75 | 0.15% | 17.28m |
| Japan | Nikkei 225 | 11873.71 | 17.25 | 0.15% | 87291 |
| Korea | KOSPI | 1012.42 | 1.5 | 0.15% | 560584 |
| Singapore | Straits Times | 2161.53 | 14 | 0.65% | 0 |
| Hong Kong | Hang Seng | 13859.94 | -32.43 | -0.23% | 142.31m |
| Malaysia | KLSE Comp | 890.25 | 0.81 | 0.09% | 0 |
