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Major Market Indices
The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries - fell by 32.70 points (-0.79%), finishing at 4115.80 points. The index hit an intraday high of 4148.50 (at the open) and its low was 4112 points set just over ten minutes before the closing bell. 4100 still holding - which is a hopeful sign for the bulls.
Total volume traded on the ASX was 0.67 billion units, 38.3% below its 10-day average. In other words, volume was pathetic - they could have switched SEATS off for the day and we could all have transacted by carrier pigeon, and nobody would have been any the wiser. that's also good for the bulls - a decline on such feeble volume is really nothing to get too concerned about yet (particuarly since the US market is very nearly oversold and will almost certainly ignore Paul Volcker's weekend Jeremiad and prefer to concentrate on the dollar-friendly statements of Japan and Korea).
Within the major index, 133 All Ords index members rose, while 256 fell for the day. Volume in losers was 85.75 million units which was a good deal less than the 232.16 units traded in advancing stocks.
The Index that forms the cash basis for the SFE's Share Price Index Futures - the S&P/ASX 200 - fell by 32.90 points (-0.79%), finishing at 4132.60 points.
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders - fell by 18.80 points (-0.83%), finishing at 2233.20 points. Within the index members, there were 5 that rose, and 14 losers. Total volume in rising issues within the ASX20 amounted to 16.71 while volume in the losers totalled 52.6m units.
The major winners in the "big guns" were -
- QBE Insurance Group (QBE), +$0.08 (0.53%) to $15.22 on volume of 1.85m shares;
- Amcor (AMC), +$0.03 (0.42%) to $7.21 on volume of 4.83m shares;
- Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (CBA), +$0.09 (0.25%) to $36.24 on volume of 3.24m shares;
- Foster's Group (FGL), +$0.01 (0.19%) to $5.40 on volume of 2.64m shares; and
- National Australia Bank (NAB), +$0.04 (0.14%) to $29.15 on volume of 4.15m shares.
The following stocks made up the biggest percentage losers in the big-guns:
- Coles Myer Ltd. (CML), -$0.31 (3.29%) to $9.11 on volume of 5.61m shares;
- BHP Billiton (BHP), -$0.38 (2.06%) to $18.07 on volume of 16.55m shares;
- AMP Limited (AMP), -$0.13 (1.88%) to $6.78 on volume of 6.47m shares;
- Rio Tinto (RIO), -$0.80 (1.74%) to $45.10 on volume of 1.75m shares; and
- News Corporation (NWSLV), -$0.33 (1.49%) to $21.80 on volume of 901,000 shares.
At the smaller end of the market's capitalisation scale, the ASX Small Ordinaries Index fell by 20.20 points (-0.86%), finishing at 2322.40 points. Of the 194 stocks in the index, 110 fell and 57 managed a gain. Volume was tilted in favour of the losers by a margin of 2.6:1, with 67.23 million shares traded in losers while 25.50 million shares traded in gainers.
The major percentage gainers in the "pop-guns" were -
- Virotec International (VTI), +$0.09 (15.79%) to $0.66 on volume of 213,000 shares;
- Orbital Corporation (OEC), +$0.01 (4.76%) to $0.11 on volume of 81,000 shares;
- Silex Systems (SLX), +$0.03 (3.26%) to $0.95 on volume of 23,000 shares;
- AAV (AVV), +$0.04 (2.87%) to $1.26 on volume of 117,000 shares; and
- SP Telemedia (SOT), +$0.06 (2.85%) to $1.99 on volume of 83,000 shares.
The losingest-little-guys for the session were (in order of decline):
- Wattyl (WYL), -$0.33 (10.86%) to $2.71 on volume of 1.49m shares;
- Norwood Abbey (NAL), -$0.03 (6.38%) to $0.44 on volume of 54,000 shares; and
- Nylex (NLX), -$0.02 (5.48%) to $0.35 on volume of 3.06m shares;
- Clough (CLO), -$0.03 (5.36%) to $0.53 on volume of 116,000 shares; and
- Antares Energy (AZZ), -$0.03 (5.36%) to $0.53 on volume of 110,000 shares.
| Index Changes | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 4115.8 | -32.7 | -0.79% | 2254.527 |
| XTL | S&P/ASX 20 | 2233.2 | -18.8 | -0.83% | 73.23m |
| XFL | S&P/ASX 50 | 4083.9 | -32.3 | -0.78% | 0 |
| XTO | S&P/ASX 100 | 3360.5 | -26.4 | -0.78% | 0 |
| XJO | S&P/ASX 200 | 4132.6 | -32.9 | -0.79% | 308.29m |
| XKO | S&P/ASX 300 | 4132.6 | -32.7 | -0.79% | 0 |
| XMD | S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 3976.5 | -29.6 | -0.74% | 0 |
| XSO | S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries | 2322.4 | -20.2 | -0.86% | 117.83m |
All Ordinaries Market Internals
| Market Breadth | |||||
| XAO | XJO | XSO | ASX20 | Market | |
| Advances | 133 | 55 | 57 | 5 | 331 |
| Declines | 256 | 131 | 110 | 14 | 555 |
| Advancing Volume | 85.75m | 71.92m | 25.5m | 16.71 | 201.29 |
| Declining Volume | 232.16m | 213.15m | 67.23m | 52.6 | 389.79 |
S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices
There was not a single sector that rose today, which saves me a load of typing (not really, since most of the dot-point lists are actually generated by a rather terrific chron job that runs every day after the market closes).
The worst-performed sector today was Materials which lost 1.37% to 7181.20 points. Of the 37 stocks in the sector, 25 fell while 11 managed a gain. Volume was tilted in favour of the losers by 4:1, with 57.53 million shares traded in losers and 14.44 million shares traded in gainers. The sector was dragged lower by
- Wattyl (WYL), -$0.33 (10.86%) to $2.71 on volume of 1.49m shares;
- Great Southern Plantations (GTP), -$0.18 (4.48%) to $3.84 on volume of 1.3m shares; and
- Onesteel (OST), -$0.07 (2.83%) to $2.40 on volume of 2.05m shares;
- Smorgon Steel Group. (SSX), -$0.04 (2.58%) to $1.32 on volume of 3.75m shares; and
- Bluescope Steel (BSL), -$0.22 (2.51%) to $8.56 on volume of 3.42m shares.
Just in front of last place on the sector table was Consumer Staples which lost 1.16% to 5569.60 points. Of the 15 stocks in the sector, 8 fell while 5 managed a gain. Volume was tilted in favour of the losers by a margin of 14:10, with 12.81 million shares traded in losers while 9.36 million shares traded in gainers. The sector was pulled down by
- Coles Myer Ltd. (CML), -$0.31 (3.29%) to $9.11 on volume of 5.61m shares;
- National Foods (NFD), -$0.14 (2.15%) to $6.36 on volume of 507,000 shares; and
- AWB (AWB), -$0.08 (1.61%) to $4.90 on volume of 720,000 shares;
- Ridley Corporation (RIC), -$0.02 (1.42%) to $1.39 on volume of 168,000 shares; and
- Woolworths (WOW), -$0.23 (1.42%) to $15.99 on volume of 2.25m shares.
| Sector Indices | |||||
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XXJ | ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts | 4926.3 | -17.3 | -0.35% | 37.24m |
| XFJ | Financials | 4843.1 | -17.7 | -0.36% | 108.36m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1737.6 | -7.2 | -0.41% | 73.55m |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1793.3 | -12.5 | -0.69% | 7.01m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 5067.1 | -41.6 | -0.81% | 45.45m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 4934.9 | -44.5 | -0.89% | 4.96m |
| XUJ | Utilities | 4749 | -43 | -0.9% | 3.42m |
| XEJ | Energy | 8292 | -78 | -0.93% | 12.5m |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 365.7 | -3.5 | -0.95% | 2.19m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 2251.1 | -26.4 | -1.16% | 20.21m |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 5569.6 | -65.4 | -1.16% | 34.52m |
| XMJ | Materials | 7181.2 | -99.7 | -1.37% | 75.89m |
All Ordinaries Major Movers
| All Ords Volume Leaders | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| HLY | Hills Motorway Group | 10.80 | -0.20 | -1.82% | 17.62m |
| BHP | BHP Billiton | 18.07 | -0.38 | -2.06% | 16.55m |
| HRR | Heron Resources | 0.79 | 0.18 | 28.46% | 15.19m |
| LEG | Legend Mining | 0.12 | -0.01 | -7.69% | 11.48m |
| WMR | WMC Resources | 7.96 | -0.03 | -0.38% | 8.14m |
| MOF | Macquarie Office Trust | 1.28 | 0.01 | 0.39% | 7.64m |
| All Ords Percentage Gainers | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| VTI | Virotec International | 0.66 | 0.09 | 15.79% | 212590 |
| TRY | Troy Resources | 2.90 | 0.15 | 5.45% | 32406 |
| EOS | Electro Optic Systems Holdings | 4.46 | 0.15 | 3.48% | 16871 |
| MND | Monadelphous Group | 10.35 | 0.34 | 3.4% | 49939 |
| AVV | AAV | 1.26 | 0.04 | 2.87% | 117080 |
| All Ords Percentage Decliners | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| PBT | Prana Biotechnology | 0.30 | -0.13 | -29.41% | 405066 |
| WYL | Wattyl | 2.71 | -0.33 | -10.86% | 1.49m |
| NLX | Nylex | 0.35 | -0.02 | -5.48% | 3.06m |
| CLO | Clough | 0.53 | -0.03 | -5.36% | 115510 |
| AZZ | Antares Energy | 0.53 | -0.03 | -5.36% | 109592 |
Elsewhere in the Region...
Japan's Nikkei 225 had fallen 129.11 points (-1.09%) and sits at 11745.64 points (and looking mighty weak) in the post-lunch session. The index hit a high of 11847.92 in the opening minutes, and fell as low as 11744.86 about a minute before I typed this sentence.
The Kiwi Market declined 6.34 points (-0.21%) and closed at 3051.29 points. The index hit its intraday high of 3061.775 about twenty minutes after the open, and with the exception of a brief post-lunch rally attempt, it was one-way traffic (down) all session. The NZ benchmark set its intraday close at 3048.718 points with just under 10 minutes to go in the session.
(Note that when I say "post-lunch rally attempt", I am not implying that the Kiwi market takes a siesta in the same way as Japan and Hongkers - they don't)
A total of 11 stocks within the NZSE50 rose, with volume in advancers totalling 1.2million units. Decliners numbered 30, and total volume traded in losers was 13.5million shares. Individual stocks that were a but suck included...
- Auckland International Airport(AIA), -NZ$6.34 (74.76%) to NZ$2.14 on volume of 1.87m shares;
- Feltex Carpets (FTX), -NZ$0.05 (5.68%) to NZ$0.83 on volume of 874,000 shares;
- Michael Hill International (MHI), -NZ$0.25 (3.13%) to NZ$7.75 on volume of 17,000 shares;
- Restaurant Brands (RBD), -NZ$0.04 (3.03%) to NZ$1.28 on volume of 120,000 shares; and
- Hallenstein Glass (HLG), -NZ$0.09 (2.25%) to NZ$3.91 on volume of 41,000 shares.
In contrast to the other regional bourses, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose after the open, rising from its opening low of 13614.05 points and hitting its session high of 13668 at about 11:15 a.m. At the time of writing, the market was back from the luncheon interval and was showing a decline of 17.34 points (-0.13%) at 13649 points.
Within the Hang Seng, 6 index components rose, while 21 stocks fell. Volume in the gainers in Hong Kong's big-cap index totalled 19.6million units, and total volume traded in losers was 84.4million shares. Individual stocks that contributed to the decline included...
- Denway Motors (0203), -HK$0.10 (3.48%) to HK$2.78 on volume of 28.32m shares;
- CNOOC (0883), -HK$0.08 (1.73%) to HK$4.25 on volume of 23.04m shares;
- PCCW (0008), -HK$0.08 (1.66%) to HK$4.45 on volume of 4.16m shares;
- CKI Holdings (1038), -HK$0.35 (1.54%) to HK$22.40 on volume of 805,000 shares;
- Johnson Electrics H (0179), -HK$0.10 (1.38%) to HK$7.15 on volume of 915,000 shares; and
- Citic Pacific (0267), -HK$0.30 (1.29%) to HK$22.95 on volume of 1.31m shares.
| Regional Indices | |||||
| Country | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| New Zealand | NZSE50 | 3051.292 | -6.34 | -0.21% | 17.04m |
| Japan | Nikkei 225 | 11745.64 | -129.11 | -1.09% | 65580 |
| Korea | KOSPI | 985.94 | -6.23 | -0.63% | 411837 |
| Singapore | Straits Times | 2180.39 | -1.55 | -0.07% | 0 |
| Hong Kong | Hang Seng | 13649.38 | -17.34 | -0.13% | 118.7m |
| Malaysia | KLSE Comp | 869.71 | 5.69 | 0.66% | 0 |
