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Edited by GT at 5:22 p.m.: Note that I typo'd the time of the ASX session low: it happened with "20" minutes to go", not "2 minutes..."
Major Market Indices
The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries - fell by 8.40 points (-0.20%), finishing at 4115.00 points. The index hit an intraday high of 4139.30 - pretty much at 10:30 on the dot. From there it was as saggy as an old woman's triceps, and just wafted down for the entire session until hitting 4110 exactly, with 2 minutes to go in the sesssion.
Total volume traded on the ASX was 880 million units, 1.5% below its 10-day average. That doesn't sound too bad unti you consider that the 10-day average has fallen 15% in the last two weeks. Seriously volume has dried up like... well, I won't go there.
Of the 483 stocks in the All Ords, 229 fell while 147 managed a gain. Volume was tilted in favour of the losers by a margin of 19:10, with 297.19 million shares traded in losers compared to 157.51 million shares traded in stocks that rose.
The Index that forms the cash basis for the SFE's Share Price Index Futures - the S&P/ASX 200 - fell by 7.00 points (-0.17%), finishing at 4135.00 points.
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders - fell by 4.80 points (-0.21%), finishing at 2232.40 points. Within the index members, there were 9 that rose, and 11 losers. Total volume in rising issues within the ASX20 amounted to 40.21 while volume in the losers totalled 57.9m units.
The major winners in the "big guns" were -
- Telstra Corporation. (TLS), +$0.06 (1.2%) to $5.08 on volume of 12.49m shares;
- Wesfarmers (WES), +$0.41 (1.01%) to $40.99 on volume of 464,000 shares;
- Alumina (AWC), +$0.04 (0.65%) to $6.17 on volume of 3.93m shares;
- Australia And New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), +$0.10 (0.47%) to $21.22 on volume of 3.01m shares; and
- Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC), +$0.09 (0.47%) to $19.25 on volume of 6.75m shares.
The following stocks made up the biggest percentage losers in the big-guns:
- Woodside Petroleum (WPL), -$0.52 (2.03%) to $25.07 on volume of 2.34m shares;
- AMP Limited (AMP), -$0.13 (1.91%) to $6.68 on volume of 10.76m shares;
- Foster's Group (FGL), -$0.08 (1.5%) to $5.26 on volume of 3.36m shares;
- News Corporation (NWS), -$0.19 (0.84%) to $22.35 on volume of 4.85m shares; and
- News Corporation (NWSLV), -$0.16 (0.74%) to $21.52 on volume of 6.14m shares.
At the smaller end of the market's capitalisation scale, the ASX Small Ordinaries Index fell by 5.80 points (-0.25%), finishing at 2323.60 points. The major winners in the "pop-guns" were -
- Genetic Technologies (GTG), +$0.03 (7.69%) to $0.42 on volume of 525,000 shares;
- Austal (ASB), +$0.11 (7.05%) to $1.67 on volume of 530,000 shares;
- Globe International (GLB), +$0.02 (4.17%) to $0.38 on volume of 110,000 shares;
- AAV (AVV), +$0.05 (3.7%) to $1.26 on volume of 472,000 shares; and
- Record Investments (RCD), +$0.19 (3.58%) to $5.49 on volume of 985,000 shares.
The losingest-little-guys for the session were (in order of decline):
- Giants Reef Mining (GTM), -$0.01 (12.82%) to $0.03 on volume of 43.73m shares;
- Agenix (AGX), -$0.04 (9.33%) to $0.34 on volume of 206,000 shares; and
- Emperor Mines (EMP), -$0.04 (8.89%) to $0.41 on volume of 91,000 shares;
- Sirtex Medical (SRX), -$0.12 (7.28%) to $1.47 on volume of 30,000 shares; and
- Mcpherson's (MCP), -$0.25 (7.14%) to $3.25 on volume of 155,000 shares.
| Index Changes | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 4115 | -8.4 | -0.2% | 2252.505 |
| XTL | S&P/ASX 20 | 2232.4 | -4.8 | -0.21% | 98.11m |
| XFL | S&P/ASX 50 | 4081.8 | -8.5 | -0.21% | 0 |
| XTO | S&P/ASX 100 | 3361.1 | -6 | -0.18% | 0 |
| XJO | S&P/ASX 200 | 4135 | -7 | -0.17% | 420.84m |
| XKO | S&P/ASX 300 | 4133.4 | -7.6 | -0.18% | 0 |
| XMD | S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 3993.6 | 0.6 | 0.02% | 0 |
| XSO | S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries | 2323.6 | -5.8 | -0.25% | 176.64m |
All Ordinaries Market Internals
| Market Breadth | |||||
| XAO | XJO | XSO | ASX20 | Market | |
| Advances | 147 | 76 | 59 | 9 | 367 |
| Declines | 229 | 97 | 101 | 11 | 550 |
| Advancing Volume | 157.51m | 141.38m | 43.36m | 40.21 | 336.92 |
| Declining Volume | 297.19m | 214.98m | 100.25m | 57.9 | 423.22 |
S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices
The top sector for the day was the 2-sector Telecommunications index which gained 0.87% to 1802.40 points. From now on let's just call the sector "Telstra and a bit". Telstra went up, and TelNZ didn't fall far enough to countermand the national carrier.
- Telstra Corporation. (TLS), +$0.06 (1.2%) to $5.08 on volume of 12.49m shares;
- Telecom Corporation Of New Zealand (TEL), -$0.05 (0.89%) to $5.58 on volume of 2.02m shares.
Second in the sector leadership stakes was Industrials which gained 0.34% to 5096.90 points. Of the 25 stocks in the sector, 16 rose while 7 fell. Volume was tilted in favour of the gainers by a margin of a little over 2:1, with 28.89 million shares traded in gainers while 13.81 million shares traded in losers. The biggest percentage gainers in the sector were -
- Corporate Express Australia (CXP), +$0.18 (2.74%) to $6.75 on volume of 69,000 shares;
- Downer EDI (DOW), +$0.10 (2.08%) to $4.90 on volume of 1.82m shares;
- United Group. (UGL), +$0.15 (1.83%) to $8.34 on volume of 211,000 shares;
- Transurban Group (TCL), +$0.10 (1.35%) to $7.53 on volume of 8.89m shares; and
- Brambles Industries (BIL), +$0.09 (1.07%) to $8.47 on volume of 8.04m shares.
The bronze today went to Utilities which gained 0.13% to 4766.90 points. As you might expect with such a near-flat index change, the sector components were pretty mixed. Of the 8 stocks in the sector, 4 rose while 3 fell. Volume was tilted in favour of the losers but ot by much - a margin of 11:10, with 2.27 million shares traded in losers while 2.05 million shares traded in gainers. The sector's gainers for teh session (in percentage terms) were -
- Gasnet Australia Group (GAS), +$0.05 (2.03%) to $2.51 on volume of 760,000 shares;
- Australian Pipeline Trust (APA), +$0.06 (1.6%) to $3.82 on volume of 53,000 shares;
- Diversified Utility And Energy Trusts (DUE), +$0.02 (0.84%) to $2.39 on volume of 682,000 shares; and
- Australian Gas Light Company (AGL), +$0.03 (0.22%) to $13.86 on volume of 560,000 shares.
The worst-performed sector today was Energy which lost 1.43% to 8237.80 points - no prizes for guessing that the continued decline in Oil priceswas the catalyst. I'm tickled pink about spotting the oil price decline, and by the time this year is over I would be even more tickled if more folks were taking advantage of these little "heads up" non-recommendations.
Yes... let's hear it for me.
Of the 11 stocks in the sector, 10 fell while just 1 managed
a gain (for those playing at home, the sole winner was Caltex Australia
CTX, +$0.08 (0.53%) to $15.05 on volume of 264,000 shares). Volume was
tilted in favour of the losers by a margin of 64.7:1 (yowza!!), with
17.06million shares traded in losers and a lousy stinkin' 264k shares traded
in Caltex.
The sector was dragged lower by
- Arc Energy (ARQ), -$0.05 (2.52%) to $1.74 on volume of 874,000 shares;
- Woodside Petroleum (WPL), -$0.52 (2.03%) to $25.07 on volume of 2.34m shares; and
- Worleyparsons (WOR), -$0.12 (1.69%) to $6.99 on volume of 162,000 shares;
- Australian Worldwide Exploration (AWE), -$0.03 (1.67%) to $1.77 on volume of 1.27m shares; and
- Roc Oil Company (ROC), -$0.03 (1.63%) to $1.81 on volume of 434,000 shares.
Just in front of last place on the sector table was Consumer Discretionary which lost 0.83% to 2232.20 points. Of the 29 stocks in the sector, 19 fell while 9 managed a gain. Volume was tilted in favour of the losers by a little under 5:1, with 38.98 million shares traded in losers while 8.32million shares traded in gainers. The worst-performed stocks in the sector (in percentage terms) were as follows:
- Tabcorp Holdings (TAH), -$0.70 (4.21%) to $15.92 on volume of 4.88m shares;
- Repco Corporation (RCL), -$0.13 (4.19%) to $2.97 on volume of 395,000 shares; and
- Pacific Brands (PBG), -$0.06 (2.47%) to $2.37 on volume of 10.47m shares;
- Ten Network Holdings (TEN), -$0.06 (1.68%) to $3.51 on volume of 771,000 shares; and
- Housewares International (HWI), -$0.03 (1.46%) to $1.69 on volume of 183,000 shares.
| Sector Indices | |||||
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1802.4 | 15.6 | 0.87% | 14.52m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 5096.9 | 17.1 | 0.34% | 46.69m |
| XUJ | Utilities | 4766.9 | 6.1 | 0.13% | 4.7m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1738.5 | 2.2 | 0.13% | 109.14m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 4950.4 | 4.3 | 0.09% | 9.29m |
| XMJ | Materials | 7208.6 | -9.2 | -0.13% | 86.66m |
| XFJ | Financials | 4843.5 | -6.2 | -0.13% | 157.65m |
| XXJ | ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts | 4926.1 | -9.8 | -0.2% | 52.8m |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 372.2 | -0.9 | -0.24% | 3.05m |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 5549.4 | -29.6 | -0.53% | 35.78m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 2232.2 | -18.7 | -0.83% | 47.52m |
| XEJ | Energy | 8237.8 | -119.2 | -1.43% | 17.33m |
All Ordinaries Major Movers
| All Ords Volume Leaders | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| MOF | Macquarie Office Trust | 1.27 | -0.01 | -0.78% | 22.29m |
| SBM | St Barbara Mines | 0.12 | 0.01 | 4.55% | 15.8m |
| CPA | Commonwealth Property Office Fund | 1.27 | 0 | 0% | 14.21m |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation. | 5.08 | 0.06 | 1.2% | 12.49m |
| BHP | BHP Billiton | 18.08 | -0.1 | -0.55% | 11.72m |
| LEG | Legend Mining | 0.099 | -0.006 | -5.71% | 11.68m |
| All Ords Percentage Gainers | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| ASB | Austal | 1.69 | 0.13 | 8.33% | 517608 |
| MND | Monadelphous Group | 11.44 | 0.87 | 8.23% | 13248 |
| TPX | Tasmanian Perpetual Trustees | 5.12 | 0.37 | 7.79% | 10322 |
| GTG | Genetic Technologies | 0.42 | 0.03 | 7.69% | 524571 |
| TKR | Triako Resources | 1.35 | 0.09 | 7.14% | 50100 |
| All Ords Percentage Decliners | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| PBT | Prana Biotechnology | 0.18 | -0.04 | -16.28% | 3.31m |
| GTM | Giants Reef Mining | 0.035 | -0.004 | -10.26% | 43.67m |
| QPX | QPSX | 0.1 | -0.01 | -9.09% | 605833 |
| AGX | Agenix | 0.35 | -0.03 | -8% | 199727 |
| MCP | Mcpherson's | 3.25 | -0.25 | -7.14% | 154986 |
Elsewhere in the Region...
Japan's Nikkei 225 is down 32.78 points (-0.28%) at 11637.52 points as I finish this sentence. The index hit a high of 11718.78 ten minutes after the open, and fell consistently both before and after lunch until a bounce off a test of 10600 at 1:40 p.m. Tokyo time, when the index hit its session low of 11602.94 points.
The Kiwi Market advanced 3.64 points (0.12%) to 3051.663 points. In contrast to most other regional bourses, the NZ market dipped at the open befopre staging a rally for the rest of the session (thus far). The index hit its low at 3040.29 points at about 12 past 9 auckland time, and rallied for the next couple of hours to its session high of 3055.111 just before midday. From there it's been pretty drab, sideway action with no real sense of urgency on either side of the market.
A total of 22 stocks within the NZSE50 rose, with volume in advancers totalling 12.2million units. Decliners numbered 19, and total volume traded in losers was 17million shares. Individual stocks that performed during the session included...
- NGC Holdings (NGC), +NZ$0.11 (3.53%) to NZ$3.23 on volume of 5.75m shares;
- APN News & Media (APN), +NZ$0.15 (2.91%) to NZ$5.30 on volume of 118,000 shares;
- Tenon Limited (TEN), +NZ$0.09 (2.34%) to NZ$3.94 on volume of 27,000 shares;
- Tourism Holdings (THL), +NZ$0.04 (2.23%) to NZ$1.83 on volume of 52,000 shares;
- Tower Limited (TWR), +NZ$0.04 (2.12%) to NZ$1.93 on volume of 1.08m shares; and
- Rubicon Limited (RBC), +NZ$0.02 (2.04%) to NZ$1.00 on volume of 14,000 shares.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was the other exception to a regional "bleh" day. It set its low about fifteen minutes into the session, at 13665.40 points, before rallying hard right through to lunchtime, setting its session high just after noon at 13754.3 points. By mid-afternoon (as this was written) the index was up 90.25 points (0.66%) at 13748.3 points.
Within the Hang Seng, 24 index components rose, while only 2 stocks fell (Yue Yuen Industries -HK$0.05 (0.23%) to HK$21.95 on volume of 436,000 shares; and Cosco Pacific -HK$0.05 (0.28%) to HK$17.50 on volume of 1.15m shares). Volume in the gainers in Hong Kong's big-cap index totalled 78.5million units, and absolutely swamped total volume traded in losers which was just 1.6 million shares. Individual stocks that contributed to the advance included...
- Denway Motors (0203), +HK$0.08 (2.73%) to HK$2.83 on volume of 9.4m shares;
- SHK Properties (0016), +HK$1.50 (2.11%) to HK$72.50 on volume of 6.66m shares;
- Hang Lung Properties (0101), +HK$0.20 (1.75%) to HK$11.60 on volume of 2.31m shares;
- China Unicom (0762), +HK$0.10 (1.59%) to HK$6.40 on volume of 5.37m shares;
- China Mobile (0941), +HK$0.35 (1.35%) to HK$26.30 on volume of 12.51m shares; and
- Wheelock (0020), +HK$0.15 (1.34%) to HK$11.35 on volume of 167,000 shares.
| Regional Indices | |||||
| Country | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| New Zealand | NZSE50 | 3051.663 | 3.64 | 0.12% | 30.19m |
| Japan | Nikkei 225 | 11637.52 | -32.78 | -0.28% | 72068 |
| Korea | KOSPI | 981.31 | -0.48 | -0.05% | 430901 |
| Singapore | Straits Times | 2172.11 | -1.45 | -0.07% | 0 |
| Hong Kong | Hang Seng | 13748.3 | 90.25 | 0.66% | 106.64m |
| Malaysia | KLSE Comp | 871.12 | 4.88 | 0.56% | 0 |
