Note - from June 24th 2009, this blog has migrated from Blogger to a self-hosted version. Click here to go straight there.
God I hate flies. I hate the noise they make, I hate when they land on me, I hate every damnable thing about them. Them and mosquitoes are the only things I genuinely enjoy killing. Slugs - wouldn't kill them even if they tried to eat my rocket or basil (which is all dead anyhow). Moths - I rescue probably one a week form the shower. Millipedes, spiders, even silverfish and cockroaches get captured and escorted outside.
Flies get two warnings; mosquitoes get none.
I mention this only because there's a bastard arsing fly annoying the crap out of me while I type this, and I'm on a deadline (we are packing and cleaning preparatory to Saturday's relocation). If I didn't waste a couple of minutes typing this I would have gone spare...
Major Market Indices
The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries - rose by 9.50 points (0.24%), finishing at 3915.00 points. The index hit an intraday high of 3921.80 fifteen minutes after the open, in a classic game of "skin the nuffnuff'. From there, it declined pretty hard for fifteen minutes, then a feeble bounce and another leg down to the session low of 3886, which occurred at 11:10 a.m. Sydney time. There was an obvious attempt to keep the market in touch with 3900, which wasn't really working very well until 2:30 p.m. Sydney time when the session low was tested again. Then someone with some reasonably serious dough stuck their foot on the gas and pushed the silly thing to where they wanted it - which was above 3900.
Total volume traded on the ASX was a very respectable 1.08 billion units, 23.3% above its 10-day average. It's the first time in a while that there's been a decent rebound on good volume. It's a pity it was all tape-painting and occurred on pretty lame breadth and internals.
Of the 483 stocks in the All Ords, 200 fell while 170 managed a gain. Volume was tilted in favour of the gainers by a margin of 1.5:1, with 295.50 million shares traded in gainers while 193.73 million shares traded in they days losers ..
The Index that forms the cash basis for the SFE's Share Price Index Futures - the S&P/ASX 200 - rose by 9.00 points (0.23%), finishing at 3956.10 points.
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders - rose by 5.50 points (0.26%), finishing at 2152.10 points. Within the index members, there were 9 that rose, and 11 losers - so it was a 'market cap in the winners was bigger' sort of day, rather than a genuine buying spree. Smells like circling of the wagons to me, and the early technical picture was starting to get very very ugly. Total volume in rising issues within the ASX20 amounted to 58.28m units while volume in the losers totalled 46.78m units.
The major winners in the "big guns" were -
- Amcor (AMC), +$0.17 (2.63%) to $6.63 on volume of 3.9m shares;
- BHP Billiton (BHP), +$0.25 (1.54%) to $16.50 on volume of 14.09m shares;
- Rio Tinto (RIO), +$0.64 (1.51%) to $42.95 on volume of 2.38m shares;
- Coles Myer Ltd. (CML), +$0.12 (1.43%) to $8.50 on volume of 5.92m shares; and
- Alumina (AWC), +$0.08 (1.4%) to $5.78 on volume of 2.14m shares.
The following stocks made up the biggest percentage losers in the big-guns:
- QBE Insurance Group (QBE), -$0.19 (1.3%) to $14.44 on volume of 2.02m shares;
- Wesfarmers (WES), -$0.40 (1.12%) to $35.41 on volume of 2.04m shares;
- Woolworths (WOW), -$0.15 (0.99%) to $15.01 on volume of 3.03m shares;
- Woodside Petroleum (WPL), -$0.05 (0.22%) to $23.00 on volume of 2.56m shares; and
- Telstra Corporation. (TLS), -$0.01 (0.21%) to $4.79 on volume of 16.1m shares.
At the smaller end of the market's capitalisation scale, the ASX Small Ordinaries Index fell by 4.20 points (-0.20%), finishing at 2128.70 points. The major winners in the "pop-guns" were -
- Nylex (NLX), +$0.02 (5.77%) to $0.28 on volume of 4.96m shares;
- Bendigo Mining (BDG), +$0.05 (5%) to $1.05 on volume of 856,000 shares;
- Redflex Holdings (RDF), +$0.16 (4.72%) to $3.55 on volume of 102,000 shares;
- Silex Systems (SLX), +$0.04 (4.38%) to $0.84 on volume of 66,000 shares; and
- Smorgon Steel Group. (SSX), +$0.05 (4.31%) to $1.21 on volume of 1.75m shares.
The losingest-little-guys for the session were (in order of decline):
- Lynas Corporation (LYC), -$0.02 (8.11%) to $0.17 on volume of 287,000 shares;
- Sydney Gas Ltd (SGL), -$0.05 (6.33%) to $0.74 on volume of 308,000 shares; and
- Australian Agricultural Company. (AAC), -$0.09 (6.21%) to $1.36 on volume of 915,000 shares;
- Sunland Group (SDG), -$0.10 (6.06%) to $1.55 on volume of 865,000 shares; and
- Emperor Mines (EMP), -$0.02 (5.71%) to $0.33 on volume of 48,000 shares.
| Index Changes | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 3915 | 9.5 | 0.24% | 624.89m |
| XTL | S&P/ASX 20 | 2152.1 | 5.5 | 0.26% | 105.07m |
| XFL | S&P/ASX 50 | 3924.4 | 12.1 | 0.31% | 0 |
| XTO | S&P/ASX 100 | 3225.8 | 8.7 | 0.27% | 0 |
| XJO | S&P/ASX 200 | 3956.1 | 9 | 0.23% | 497m |
| XKO | S&P/ASX 300 | 3949.9 | 9 | 0.23% | 0 |
| XMD | S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 3792.7 | 1.9 | 0.05% | 0 |
| XSO | S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries | 2128.7 | -4.2 | -0.2% | 164.1m |
All Ordinaries Market Internals
| Market Breadth | |||||
| XAO | XJO | XSO | ASX20 | Market | |
| Advances | 170 | 82 | 74 | 9 | 390 |
| Declines | 200 | 95 | 84 | 11 | 510 |
| Advancing Volume | 295.5m | 222.86m | 73.69m | 58.28 | 558.1 |
| Declining Volume | 193.73m | 175.6m | 49.25m | 46.78 | 368 |
S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices
The top sector for the day was Materials which gained 1.60% to 6660.10 points. This is one of the most heavily populated sectors in the market, and contains 37 stocks. Of those, 29 rose today while 5 fell and 3 were unchanged. Volume was tilted in favour of the gainers by a margin of 21.1:1, with 78.41 million shares traded in gainers while 3.72 million shares traded in losers. The sectors biggest percentage gainers were as follows:
- Bluescope Steel (BSL), +$0.38 (5.08%) to $7.86 on volume of 4.81m shares;
- Oxiana (OXR), +$0.04 (4.82%) to $0.87 on volume of 6.84m shares;
- Smorgon Steel Group. (SSX), +$0.05 (4.31%) to $1.21 on volume of 1.75m shares;
- Onesteel (OST), +$0.09 (4.07%) to $2.30 on volume of 2.8m shares; and
- Gunns (GNS), +$0.15 (3.87%) to $4.03 on volume of 1.79m shares.
Second in the sector leadership stakes was Consumer Discretionary which gained 0.88% to 2065.00 points. This is another well-populated sector, with 29 stocks. Today 18 of those stocks posted gains, while 9 fell and 2 didn't trouble the scorers. Volume was tilted in favour of the gainers by a margin of 6:1, with 42.25 million shares traded in gainers compared with 7.02million shares traded in the sector's duds of the day. The sector leaders were -
- JB Hi-Fi (JBH), +$0.12 (4.18%) to $2.99 on volume of 1.04m shares;
- Billabong International (BBG), +$0.27 (2.37%) to $11.66 on volume of 1.33m shares;
- Seven Network (SEV), +$0.15 (2.36%) to $6.50 on volume of 886,000 shares;
- Aristocrat Leisure (ALL), +$0.23 (2.31%) to $10.20 on volume of 2.57m shares; and
- Village Roadshow (VRLPA), +$0.04 (2.06%) to $1.98 on volume of 60,000 shares.
The bronze today went to Energy which gained 0.56% to 7926.60 points. Of the 11 stocks in the sector, 9 rose while 2 fell. Volume was tilted in favour of the gainers by a margin of 2.7:1, with 12.58 million shares traded in gainers while 4.60 million shares traded in losers. The sector was led by
- Arc Energy (ARQ), +$0.04 (2.4%) to $1.71 on volume of 269,000 shares;
- Oil Search (OSH), +$0.05 (2.15%) to $2.38 on volume of 4.91m shares;
- Hardman Resources (HDR), +$0.03 (1.81%) to $1.69 on volume of 2.32m shares;
- Caltex Australia (CTX), +$0.24 (1.69%) to $14.48 on volume of 814,000 shares; and
- Roc Oil Company (ROC), +$0.03 (1.49%) to $1.70 on volume of 157,000 shares.
The worst-performed sector today was Information Technology which lost 1.35% to 335.10 points. The sector contains 7 stocks, and today all 7 fell below the gain line. Volume happened entirely in the losers (obviously), to the tune of 6.31million shares. The sector's biggest loser was the electronic ticket-clipper IRESS... and its chums included:
- IRESS (IRE), -$0.20 (5%) to $3.80 on volume of 211,000 shares;
- Vision Systems (VSL), -$0.05 (4.31%) to $1.00 on volume of 759,000 shares;
- ERG (ERG), -$0.01 (1.96%) to $0.25 on volume of 2.65m shares;
- MYOB (MYO), -$0.02 (1.94%) to $1.01 on volume of 217,000 shares; and
- Baycorp Advantage (BCA), -$0.03 (1.08%) to $2.75 on volume of 162,000 shares.
Just in front of last place on the sector table was Consumer Staples which lost 0.49% to 5223.90 points. Of the 15 stocks in the sector, 11 fell while 1 (Coles Myer) managed a gain. Volume was tilted in favour of the losers by a margin of 4.3:1, with 25.73million shares traded in losers while 5.92million shares traded in gainers. The sector was pulled down by
- Futuris Corporation (FCL), -$0.10 (5.41%) to $1.75 on volume of 3.92m shares;
- Burns, Philp & Company (BPC), -$0.03 (2.7%) to $0.90 on volume of 4.01m shares; and
- Ridley Corporation (RIC), -$0.03 (2.4%) to $1.22 on volume of 254,000 shares;
- Lion Nathan (LNN), -$0.16 (2.22%) to $7.04 on volume of 1.75m shares; and
- Coca-Cola Amatil (CCL), -$0.09 (1.17%) to $7.60 on volume of 5.27m shares.
| Sector Indices | |||||
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XMJ | Materials | 6660.1 | 104.9 | 1.6% | 91.25m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 2065 | 18 | 0.88% | 50.11m |
| XEJ | Energy | 7926.6 | 44.1 | 0.56% | 17.18m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 4730.5 | -5.5 | -0.12% | 49.4m |
| XXJ | ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts | 4878.8 | -8.1 | -0.17% | 72.73m |
| XFJ | Financials | 4776.5 | -8.8 | -0.18% | 200.61m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 4671.7 | -11.4 | -0.24% | 11.37m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1688.6 | -4.4 | -0.26% | 130.9m |
| XUJ | Utilities | 4826.7 | -18.8 | -0.39% | 5.74m |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1718.4 | -7.9 | -0.46% | 17.13m |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 5223.9 | -25.5 | -0.49% | 49.83m |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 335.1 | -4.6 | -1.35% | 6.31m |
All Ordinaries Major Movers
| All Ords Volume Leaders | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| AZR | Aztec Resources | 0.25 | 0.02 | 6.52% | 54.76m |
| DRT | DB Rreef Trust | 1.31 | 0 | 0% | 25.57m |
| URL | Universal Resources | 0.15 | -0.01 | -3.33% | 20.22m |
| SGT | Singapore Telecommunications. | 2.04 | 0.02 | 0.99% | 19.09m |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation. | 4.79 | -0.01 | -0.21% | 16.1m |
| BHP | BHP Billiton | 16.50 | 0.25 | 1.54% | 14.09m |
| All Ords Percentage Gainers | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| UNI | Unilife Medical Solutions | 0.60 | 0.08 | 15.38% | 305198 |
| DVN | Devine | 0.62 | 0.04 | 6.9% | 189400 |
| API | Australian Pharmaceutical Industries | 2.80 | 0.16 | 6.06% | 159142 |
| NLX | Nylex | 0.28 | 0.02 | 5.77% | 4.96m |
| CNA | Coal & Allied Industries | 41.00 | 2.00 | 5.13% | 8559 |
| All Ords Percentage Decliners | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| GNC | Graincorp (earnings warning) | 11.5 | -1.10 | -8.73% | 31965 |
| BLT | Benitec | 0.17 | -0.02 | -8.33% | 912906 |
| SGL | Sydney Gas Ltd | 0.74 | -0.05 | -6.33% | 308309 |
| AAC | Australian Agricultural Company (GrainCorp sympathy) | 1.36 | -0.09 | -6.21% | 914778 |
| ALU | Altium | 0.23 | -0.02 | -6.12% | 311500 |
Elsewhere in the Region...
Japan's Nikkei 225 is still closed for Golden Week. It opens again tomorrow.
The Kiwi Market declined 44.91 points (-1.50%) to 2946.955 points in more or less a coast-to-coast decline. The index opened at its session high of 2993.482 points, and fell to 2944.24 points at 3:30 p.m. before a teensy weensy uptick at the close.
A total of 6 stocks within the NZSE50 rose, with volume in advancers totalling just 1 million units. Decliners numbered 35, and total volume traded in losers was 23 million shares. Individual stocks that contributed to the decline (in order of percentage loss or he day) were...
- Lion Nathan (LNN), -NZ$0.53 (6.77%) to NZ$7.30 on volume of 9,000 shares;
- Pumpkin Patch (PPL), -NZ$0.13 (5%) to NZ$2.47 on volume of 183,000 shares;
- Hellaby Holdings (HBY), -NZ$0.22 (3.72%) to NZ$5.70 on volume of 17,000 shares;
- Auckland International Airport (AIA), -NZ$0.07 (3.5%) to NZ$1.93 on volume of 1.72m shares; and
- Nuplex Industries (NPX), -NZ$0.12 (3.33%) to NZ$3.48 on volume of 366,000 shares.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index advanced 122.79 points (0.88%) and sat at 14067.84 at lunchtime. Much of that gain occurred at the open - the market gapped up to open above 14050 and rose to its session high of 14089.99 within the first ten minutes. It then actually softened for much of the rest of the first hour, dipping almost 70 points to it session low of 14021.93 points shortly after 10:45 a.m. HK time. So after 45 minutes the entire day's range (at least, thus far ) had been decided upon.
Within the Hang Seng, 29 index components rose, and none of the index components fell (4 stocks were unchanged). Volume in the gainers in Hong Kong's big-cap index totalled 176.5million units, and of course there was absolutely no trade in the losers because there were no losers. The largest percentage gains were enjoyed by
- Lenovo Group (0992), +HK$0.13 (5.15%) to HK$2.55 on volume of 17.09m shares;
- CKI Holdings (1038), +HK$0.65 (2.7%) to HK$24.70 on volume of 1.21m shares;
- China Mobile (0941), +HK$0.60 (2.22%) to HK$27.65 on volume of 14.26m shares;
- Wheelock (0020), +HK$0.25 (2.12%) to HK$12.05 on volume of 1.04m shares;
- CNOOC (0883), +HK$0.08 (1.79%) to HK$4.28 on volume of 32.3m shares; and
- Henderson Investments (0097), +HK$0.20 (1.76%) to HK$11.55 on volume of 1.23m shares.
| Regional Indices | |||||
| Country | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| New Zealand | NZSE50 | 2946.955 | -44.91 | -1.5% | 24.69m |
| Japan | Nikkei 225 | 11002.11 | -6.79 | -0.06% | 59550 |
| Korea | KOSPI | 929.35 | 15.53 | 1.7% | 330702 |
| Singapore | Straits Times | 2151.25 | 1.87 | 0.09% | 0 |
| Hong Kong | Hang Seng | 14067.84 | 122.79 | 0.88% | 191.25m |
| Malaysia | KLSE Comp | 902.34 | -0.73 | -0.08% | 0 |
