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Stock indices across the entire region fell moderately hard, with the exception of Malaysia. The Australian market had the largest percentage decline of any of the markets I track. Although it seems like a large decline in the context of the recent lack of volatility, the fact is that a decline of 1-2% is never particularly interesting; not rare, not a harbinger of anything in particular.
I am still convinced that global equity markets face a real shakeout this year, and the Australian market will be no exception: the fact that global banks started increasing their exposure to Australian equities in the last six months is final evidence that we are near a top... banks are the second-biggest idiots in the financial world (retail nuffnuffs are the biggest). The economic picture is deteriorating palpably - despite government statisticians' attempts to paint some lipstick on the economic pig.Major Market Indices
The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries - fell by 60.90 points (-1.44%), finishing at 4164.60 points. The index hit an intraday high of 4225.50 (at the open) and its low was 4164.60 (at the close). It was a bona fide "coast to coast" decline, with no reactive moves of any consequence during the session. It remains to be seen if this is the beginning of the kick in the pants that the market requires.
The Index that forms the cash basis for the SFE's Share Price Index Futures - the S&P/ASX 200 - fell by 63.00 points (-1.49%), finishing at 4170.80 points.
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders - fell by 34.90 points (-1.52%), finishing at 2254.80 points. All 20 index members fell. Total volume was 116.89m units - all of it in losers (since there were no winners).
Since there were no winners, there's no point recounting the big-caps that fell the least, so let's move straight to the stocks that made up the biggest percentage losers in the big-guns:
- QBE Insurance Group (QBE), -$0.36 (2.39%) to $14.72 on volume of 4.67m shares;
- AMP Limited (AMP), -$0.17 (2.29%) to $7.24 on volume of 7.93m shares;
- Commonwealth Bank Of Australia. (CBA), -$0.75 (2.09%) to $35.13 on volume of 2.62m shares;
- Woodside Petroleum (WPL), -$0.51 (2.03%) to $24.64 on volume of 2.11m shares; and
- Wesfarmers (WES), -$0.82 (1.99%) to $40.48 on volume of 1.28m shares.
I'm always somewhat pleased when insurance companies fall - it seems like a small Karmic compensation for their misleading and deceptive advertisements, where everything is promised but it is never made clear that it is all reflected in the premium. (Sure, grown adults ought to know that, but while they are using the public airwaves they ought to be forced to adhere to advertising standards). Plus, insurance is always and everywhere based on a false premise; that the insurance company has a better understanding of its clients' risks than the client does (a more cynical person might suggest it also understands that the insurance company can worm its way out of its liabilities down the track). Apart from that, they're just bookies who use the premium proceeds to punt on stocks - that is the only way the business model can ever work.
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 - fell by 36.00 points (-1.49%), finishing at 2384.90 points. The major winners in the "pop-guns" were -
- Chemeq (CMQ), +$0.07 (4.38%) to $1.67 on volume of 1.4m shares;
- Lynas Corporation (LYC), +$0.01 (3.51%) to $0.30 on volume of 445,000 shares;
- Orbital Corporation (OEC), +$0.00 (3.45%) to $0.09 on volume of 1.8m shares;
- Emperor Mines (EMP), +$0.02 (3.09%) to $0.50 on volume of 19,000 shares; and
- Multiplex Group (MXG), +$0.11 (2.57%) to $4.39 on volume of 7.86m shares.
The losingest-little-guys for the session were (in order of percentage decline):
- Beach Petroleum (BPT), -$0.06 (8.11%) to $0.68 on volume of 1.85m shares;
- Consolidated Minerals (CSM), -$0.26 (6.63%) to $3.66 on volume of 2.25m shares; and
- Dragon Mining (DRA), -$0.02 (6.38%) to $0.22 on volume of 968,000 shares;
- Excel Coal (EXL), -$0.49 (5.95%) to $7.74 on volume of 834,000 shares; and
- Sally Malay Mining (SMY), -$0.05 (5.05%) to $0.94 on volume of 903,000 shares.
| Index Changes | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 4164.6 | -60.9 | -1.44% | 596m |
| XTL | S&P/ASX 20 | 2254.8 | -34.9 | -1.52% | 116.89m |
| XFL | S&P/ASX 50 | 4116.9 | -64 | -1.53% | 0 |
| XTO | S&P/ASX 100 | 3389 | -51.1 | -1.49% | 0 |
| XJO | S&P/ASX 200 | 4170.8 | -63 | -1.49% | 486.8m |
| XKO | S&P/ASX 300 | 4174.8 | -63 | -1.49% | 0 |
| XMD | S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 4019 | -50 | -1.23% | 0 |
| XSO | S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries | 2384.9 | -36 | -1.49% | 161.15m |
All Ordinaries Market Internals
| Market Breadth | |||||
| XAO | XJO | XSO | ASX20 | Market | |
| Advances | 80 | 23 | 36 | 0 | 263 |
| Declines | 295 | 164 | 130 | 20 | 660 |
| Advancing Volume | 50.21m | 42.46m | 34.29m | 0 | 313.64 |
| Declining Volume | 476.12m | 420.86m | 105.77m | 116.89 | 743.02 |
S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices
There wasn't a single Gyeacchs sector that rose today. It was the "Gatorade Bottle of Doom" across the board, the only difference being the force with which the Bottle was applied.
The worst-performed sector today was Energy - not a huge surprise given the overnight reverse-jamjob in Crude. The Energy sector index lost 2.22% to 8282.30 points. The sector was dragged lower by
- Hardman Resources (HDR), -$0.08 (4%) to $1.92 on volume of 3.61m shares;
- Oil Search (OSH), -$0.08 (3.2%) to $2.42 on volume of 7.73m shares; and
- Santos (STO), -$0.24 (2.64%) to $8.86 on volume of 3.76m shares;
- Worleyparsons (WOR), -$0.17 (2.44%) to $6.81 on volume of 460,000 shares; and
- Woodside Petroleum (WPL), -$0.51 (2.03%) to $24.64 on volume of 2.11m shares.
Just in front of last place on the sector table was ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts which lost 1.77% to 4900.10 points. The sector was pulled down by the major banks, mostly - but the index members that lost the most in percentage terms were...
- Oamps (OMP), -$0.14 (3.85%) to $3.50 on volume of 415,000 shares;
- Perpetual Trustees Australia (PPT), -$2.18 (3.56%) to $59.10 on volume of 30,000 shares; and
- Macquarie Bank (MBL), -$1.65 (3.34%) to $47.75 on volume of 1.09m shares;
- FKP Property Group (FKP), -$0.14 (3.31%) to $4.09 on volume of 187,000 shares; and
- HHG Plc (HHG), -$0.05 (3.23%) to $1.50 on volume of 15.37m shares.
| Sector Indices | |||||
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 5646.1 | -36.5 | -0.64% | 33.8m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1753.2 | -17 | -0.96% | 96.18m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 4913.6 | -48.6 | -0.98% | 12.57m |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 376.9 | -4.1 | -1.08% | 8.27m |
| XMJ | Materials | 7350.8 | -101.3 | -1.36% | 111.99m |
| XUJ | Utilities | 4722.5 | -68.4 | -1.43% | 5.15m |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1911.5 | -29.1 | -1.5% | 29.94m |
| XFJ | Financials | 4832.6 | -78.1 | -1.59% | 162.89m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 2307.1 | -38.4 | -1.64% | 47.87m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 5039.4 | -88.8 | -1.73% | 61.53m |
| XXJ | ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts | 4900.1 | -88.3 | -1.77% | 73.4m |
| XEJ | Energy | 8282.3 | -188 | -2.22% | 23.52m |
All Ordinaries Major Movers
| All Ords Volume Leaders | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| RTM | Reefton Mining | 0.16 | -0.02 | -8.82% | 46.02m |
| LEG | Legend Mining | 0.15 | -0.01 | -6.45% | 32.83m |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation. | 5.4 | -0.09 | -1.64% | 26.84m |
| BHP | BHP Billiton | 18.59 | -0.27 | -1.43% | 16.31m |
| HHG | HHG Plc | 1.5 | -0.05 | -3.23% | 15.37m |
| LHG | Lihir Gold | 1.1 | -0.02 | -1.79% | 13.94m |
| All Ords Percentage Gainers | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| GDM | Goldstream Mining | 0.5 | 0.04 | 7.53% | 318545 |
| SED | Sedimentary Holdings | 0.25 | 0.02 | 6.52% | 439724 |
| CMQ | Chemeq | 1.67 | 0.07 | 4.38% | 1.4m |
| LYC | Lynas Corporation | 0.3 | 0.01 | 3.51% | 444590 |
| OEC | Orbital Corporation | 0.09 | 0.003 | 3.45% | 1.8m |
| All Ords Percentage Decliners | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| BPT | Beach Petroleum | 0.68 | -0.06 | -8.11% | 1.85m |
| CGX | Central Asia Gold | 0.7 | -0.05 | -6.67% | 145945 |
| NVE | Novera Energy | 0.28 | -0.02 | -6.67% | 210000 |
| CSM | Consolidated Minerals | 3.66 | -0.26 | -6.63% | 2.25m |
| DRA | Dragon Mining | 0.22 | -0.02 | -6.38% | 967766 |
Elsewhere in the Region...
Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 114.18 points (-0.96%)at 11727.79 points as I type these words. It had been lower either side of the Tokyo Siesta (from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. their time) which is when it spent a little bit of time under 11700 .
The Kiwi Market declined 22.45 points (-0.72%). A total of 7 stocks within the NZSE50 rose, with volume in advancers totalling 1.8million units. Decliners numbered 36, and total volume traded in losers was 5million shares. Individual stocks that were a but suck included...
- Pumpkin Patch (PPL), -NZ$0.13 (3.77%) to NZ$3.32 on volume of 117,000 shares;
- AMP Limited (AMP), -NZ$0.29 (3.63%) to NZ$7.71 on volume of 36,000 shares;
- Tenon Limited (TEN), -NZ$0.15 (3.45%) to NZ$4.20 on volume of 23,000 shares;
- Hallenstein Glass (HLG), -NZ$0.12 (2.95%) to NZ$3.95 on volume of 35,000 shares; and
- AXA Asia Pacific (AXA), -NZ$0.13 (2.84%) to NZ$4.45 on volume of 11,000 shares.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index declined 159.82 points (-1.16%). Within the Hang Seng, 3 index components rose, while 29 stocks fell. Volume in the gainers in Hong Kong's big-cap index totalled 27.2million units, and total volume traded in losers was 167.6million shares. Individual stocks that contributed to the decline included...
- Esprit Holdings (0330), -HK$2.55 (4.55%) to HK$53.50 on volume of 6.53m shares;
- Wheelock (0020), -HK$0.50 (4.24%) to HK$11.30 on volume of 1.84m shares;
- CNOOC (0883), -HK$0.15 (3.39%) to HK$4.28 on volume of 39m shares;
- China Unicom (0762), -HK$0.15 (2.38%) to HK$6.15 on volume of 4.12m shares;
- Swire Pacific A (0019), -HK$1.50 (2.31%) to HK$63.50 on volume of 1.88m shares; and
- Johnson Electronics H (0179), -HK$0.15 (2.14%) to HK$6.85 on volume of 5.55m shares.
| Regional Indices | |||||
| Country | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| New Zealand | NZSE50 | 3104.885 | -22.45 | -0.72% | 7.52m |
| Japan | Nikkei 225 | 11727.79 | -114.18 | -0.96% | 75107 |
| Korea | KOSPI | 970.74 | -9.67 | -0.99% | 453979 |
| Singapore | Straits Times | 2148.58 | -27.83 | -1.28% | 0 |
| Hong Kong | Hang Seng | 13616.65 | -159.82 | -1.16% | 196.02m |
| Malaysia | KLSE Comp | 878.74 | 0.11 | 0.01% | 0 |
