Note - from June 24th 2009, this blog has migrated from Blogger to a self-hosted version. Click here to go straight there.
There's no other word for it: tedious. Volume solid, but the actual ticker was like watching paint dry - beige paint. Speaking of boring, do you want to know what's boring? People who have got nothing better to do than complicate my life, that's what's boring.
I find myself constantly annoyed by the fundamentalism in - of all things - the HTTP language-nazi community. There are actually folks who care about whether people use <b> instead of <span style="font-weight: bold;">. To me, more letters = fatter pages = bad, and that's the end of the story.
Apparently not, young Transom... <b> is bad (so is <i>), apparently, because they're a formatting things and shouldn't be in 'layout' areas. I don't give a crap... and I detest <br> tags too... what's wrong with <p>?
Odin must be annoyed at me for something, to infest my life with dull tripe like that.
Major Market Indices
The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries - fell by 7.00 points (-0.16%), finishing at 4255.30 points. The index hit an intraday high of 4270.10 and its low was 4251.4 (we'll call that 4250-ish).
Total volume traded on the ASX was 950 million units, 1.9% above its 10-day average.
Of the 483 stocks in the index, 202 fell while 165 managed a gain. Volume was tilted in favour of the losers by a margin of 1.9:1, with 306.97 million shares traded in losers while 158.91 million shares changed hand in All Ords 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 5.50 points (-0.13%), finishing at 4300.10 points. 99 of the ASX200's members fell while 75 managed a gain. Volume was tilted in favour of the losers by a margin of 1.6:1, with 221.49 million shares traded in losers while 142.74 million shares traded in winners.
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders - rose by 0.10 points (0.00%), finishing at 2309.70 points. Within the index members, there were 9 that rose, and 11 losers. Total volume in rising issues within the ASX20 amounted to 41.05 while volume in the losers totalled 53.07m units.
The major winners in the "big guns" were -
- Wesfarmers (WES), +$0.45 (1.14%) to $40.00 on volume of 598,000 shares;
- Alumina (AWC), +$0.06 (1.04%) to $5.84 on volume of 2.61m shares; and
- Foster's Group (FGL), +$0.05 (0.94%) to $5.39 on volume of 8.83m shares; and
- Rio Tinto (RIO), +$0.38 (0.84%) to $45.54 on volume of 1.41m shares; and
- Westfield Group (WDC), +$0.08 (0.45%) to $17.67 on volume of 3.74m shares.
The following stocks made up the biggest percentage losers in the big-guns:
- Amcor (AMC), -$0.08 (1.09%) to $7.27 on volume of 2.29m shares;
- QBE Insurance Group (QBE), -$0.17 (1.07%) to $15.66 on volume of 1.08m shares; and
- AMP Limited (AMP), -$0.07 (1.03%) to $6.71 on volume of 5.87m shares; and
- St George Bank (SGB), -$0.27 (1.03%) to $25.90 on volume of 1.64m shares; and
- Coles Myer Ltd (CML), -$0.08 (0.84%) to $9.45 on volume of 3.96m shares.
At the smaller end of the market's capitalisation scale, the ASX Small Ordinaries Index fell by 6.00 points (-0.25%), finishing at 2386.50 points. The major winners in the "pop-guns" were -
- Housewares International (HWI), +$0.10 (6.17%) to $1.72 on volume of 755,000 shares;
- Macmahon Holdings (MAH), +$0.03 (5.88%) to $0.45 on volume of 818,000 shares; and
- Tap Oil (TAP), +$0.11 (5.24%) to $2.21 on volume of 2.29m shares; and
- Progen Industries (PGL), +$0.10 (4.44%) to $2.35 on volume of 120,000 shares; and
- Grand Hotel Group (GHG), +$0.04 (4.4%) to $0.83 on volume of 357,000 shares.
The losingest-little-guys for the session were (in order of decline):
- Village Life Ltd (VLL), -$0.17 (34.02%) to $0.32 on volume of 25.93m shares;
- Multiemedia (MUL), -$0.00 (12.5%) to $0.01 on volume of 21.1m shares; and
- Emperor Mines (EMP), -$0.03 (10%) to $0.27 on volume of 57,000 shares; and
- Dragon Mining (DRA), -$0.02 (6.38%) to $0.22 on volume of 1.46m shares; and
- Silex Systems (SLX), -$0.07 (5.88%) to $1.12 on volume of 341,000 shares.
| Index Changes | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 4255.3 | -7 | -0.16% | 585.12m |
| XTL | S&P/ASX 20 | 2309.7 | 0.1 | 0% | 94.12m |
| XFL | S&P/ASX 50 | 4239.1 | -6.8 | -0.16% | 185.15m |
| XTO | S&P/ASX 100 | 3494.3 | -4.4 | -0.13% | 315.39m |
| XJO | S&P/ASX 200 | 4300.1 | -5.5 | -0.13% | 415.8m |
| XKO | S&P/ASX 300 | 4291.9 | -5.8 | -0.13% | 0 |
| XMD | S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 4176.5 | 3.7 | 0.09% | 0 |
| XSO | S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries | 2386.5 | -6 | -0.25% | 215.48m |
All Ordinaries Market Internals
| Market Breadth | ||||||
| ASX20 | XTO | XJO | XAO | XSO | Market | |
| Advances | 9 | 42 | 75 | 165 | 65 | 424 |
| Declines | 11 | 48 | 99 | 202 | 90 | 556 |
| Advancing Volume | 41.05m | 118.5m | 142.74m | 158.91m | 58.17m | 360.92m |
| Declining Volume | 53.07m | 177.41m | 221.49m | 306.97m | 109.1m | 421.52m |
S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices
The top sector for the day was Information Technology which gained 0.94% to 407.20 points. The sector was helped by
- Computershare (CPU), +$0.12 (1.9%) to $6.42 on volume of 1.28m shares;
- Vision Systems (VSL), +$0.02 (1.7%) to $1.20 on volume of 651,000 shares; and
- ERG (ERG), -$0.00 (0%) to $0.26 on volume of 910,000 shares; and
- Infomedia Ltd (IFM), -$0.00 (0%) to $0.53 on volume of 484,000 shares; and
- IRESS Market Technology (IRE), -$0.01 (0.24%) to $4.24 on volume of 371,000 shares.
Second in the sector leadership stakes was Property Trusts which gained 0.68% to 1837.70 points. The sector leaders were -
- Centro Properties Group (CNP), +$0.31 (5.28%) to $6.18 on volume of 4.13m shares;
- Investa Property Group (IPG), +$0.04 (1.99%) to $2.05 on volume of 3.08m shares; and
- Bunnings Warehouse Property Trust (BWP), +$0.04 (1.79%) to $1.99 on volume of 154,000 shares; and
- Thakral Holdings Group (THG), +$0.01 (1.27%) to $0.80 on volume of 66,000 shares; and
- Macquarie Prologis Trust (MPR), +$0.01 (0.84%) to $1.21 on volume of 4.56m shares.
The bronze today went to Healthcare which gained 0.51% to 5194.30 points. The sector was led by
- Mayne Group (MAY), +$0.21 (4.43%) to $4.95 on volume of 5.7m shares;
- Cochlear (COH), +$0.55 (1.44%) to $38.80 on volume of 443,000 shares; and
- CSL (CSL), +$0.45 (1.37%) to $33.18 on volume of 596,000 shares; and
- Invocare (IVC), +$0.05 (1.25%) to $4.06 on volume of 298,000 shares; and
- Chemeq (CMQ), +$0.01 (0.43%) to $1.16 on volume of 229,000 shares.
The worst-performed sector today was Utilities which lost 1.14% to 4996.40 points. The sector was dragged lower by
- Gasnet Australia Group (GAS), -$0.06 (2.23%) to $2.63 on volume of 71,000 shares;
- Australian Gas Light Company (AGL), -$0.27 (1.87%) to $14.16 on volume of 1.27m shares;
- Alinta (ALN), -$0.11 (1.09%) to $9.97 on volume of 714,000 shares;
- Australian Pipeline Trust (APA), -$0.04 (1.05%) to $3.78 on volume of 136,000 shares; and
- Pacific Hydro (PHY), -$0.01 (0.2%) to $5.00 on volume of 2m shares.
Just in front of last place on the sector table was Energy which lost 1.11% to 9452.90 points. The sector was pulled down by
- Santos (STO), -$0.30 (2.6%) to $11.22 on volume of 3.62m shares;
- Oil Search (OSH), -$0.06 (2.06%) to $2.85 on volume of 7.92m shares;
- Roc Oil Company (ROC), -$0.04 (1.79%) to $1.93 on volume of 1.41m shares;
- Origin Energy (ORG), -$0.12 (1.55%) to $7.64 on volume of 2.32m shares; and
- Australian Worldwide Exploration (AWE), -$0.03 (1.46%) to $2.02 on volume of 2.62m shares.
| Sector Indices | |||||
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 407.2 | 3.8 | 0.94% | 4.82m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1837.7 | 12.5 | 0.68% | 71.77m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 5194.3 | 26.4 | 0.51% | 15.75m |
| XFJ | Financials | 5097.3 | 6.6 | 0.13% | 128.71m |
| XXJ | ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts | 5177.7 | -1.5 | -0.03% | 60.67m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 5228.6 | -6.2 | -0.12% | 56.72m |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1799.8 | -5 | -0.28% | 23.07m |
| XMJ | Materials | 7341.1 | -23 | -0.31% | 83.26m |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 5625 | -18.2 | -0.32% | 43.66m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 2293 | -10.8 | -0.47% | 34.72m |
| XEJ | Energy | 9452.9 | -106.1 | -1.11% | 29.94m |
| XUJ | Utilities | 4996.4 | -57.7 | -1.14% | 8.34m |
All Ordinaries Major Movers
| All Ords Volume Leaders | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| VLL | Village Life Ltd | 0.32 | -0.17 | -34.02% | 25.93m |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation | 5.06 | -0.02 | -0.39% | 21.5m |
| CUE | Cue Energy Resources | 0.37 | 0.02 | 5.71% | 20.03m |
| SGT | Singapore Telecommunications | 2.04 | 0 | 0% | 19.15m |
| BHP | BHP Billiton | 18.26 | 0.03 | 0.16% | 13.4m |
| MAP | Macquarie Airports | 3.56 | -0.04 | -1.11% | 11.33m |
| All Ords Percentage Gainers | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| SMC | Strategic Minerals Corporation | 0.17 | 0.02 | 10% | 570713 |
| ALK | Alkane Exploration | 0.15 | 0.01 | 7.14% | 1.94m |
| NVE | Novera Energy | 1.5 | 0.09 | 6.38% | 59210 |
| HWI | Housewares International | 1.72 | 0.1 | 6.17% | 754569 |
| CLT | Cellnet Group | 1.33 | 0.08 | 5.98% | 147062 |
| All Ords Percentage Decliners | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| VLL | Village Life Ltd | 0.32 | -0.17 | -34.02% | 25.93m |
| MUL | Multiemedia | 0.014 | -0.002 | -12.5% | 21.1m |
| SRI | Sipa Resources | 0.072 | -0.01 | -12.2% | 2.88m |
| GGN | Gallery Gold | 0.35 | -0.03 | -7.89% | 1.41m |
| ABI | Ambri | 0.12 | -0.01 | -7.69% | 623611 |
Elsewhere in the Region...
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose a measly 5.39 points (0.05%) to close at 11488.74 points. The index dipped to 11464.25 points in the first 10 minutes, then spiked up violently, rising almost 50 points in the following ten minutes. it then went into a holding pattern around 10500 with a modest downward bias, until a small post-lnch surge to restest the high at 11511.23.
The Kiwi Market advanced 11.14 points (0.35%) to close at 3179.19 points. As with Japan, the NZ market opened with a downtick for about 10 mintues, at which time it traded as low as 3160.042 points - but from there it was an upwards waft, with the NZSE50 adding on 21 points in 4½ hours to set its high of 3181.591 points at just after 2 p.m. Auckland time.
A total of 23 stocks within the NZSE50 rose, with volume in advancers totalling 15.4million units. Decliners numbered 18, and total volume traded in losers was 11.8million shares. Individual stocks thatoutperformed included...
- Tenon Limited Ord (TEN), +NZ$0.10 (2.67%) to NZ$3.85 on volume of 33,000 shares;
- Mainfreight (MFT), +NZ$0.06 (2.22%) to NZ$2.76 on volume of 128,000 shares;
- Nuplex Industries (NPX), +NZ$0.09 (2.22%) to NZ$4.15 on volume of 92,000 shares;
- Pumpkin Patch (PPL), +NZ$0.05 (1.82%) to NZ$2.80 on volume of 36,000 shares;
- Lion Nathan (LNN), +NZ$0.13 (1.61%) to NZ$8.20 on volume of 38,000 shares; and
- Contact Energy (CEN), +NZ$0.10 (1.34%) to NZ$7.55 on volume of 328,000 shares.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index declined 28.63 points (-0.21%) to sit at just under 13920 during the lunch break. The indexopened at its high (13954.02), and fell to 13890.78 points just before the end of the first hour's trade.
Within the Hang Seng, 8 index components rose, while 17 stocks fell. Volume in the gainers in Hong Kong's big-cap index totalled 10.5million units, and total volume traded in losers was 111.7million shares. Individual stocks that contributed to the decline included...
- Lenovo Group (0992), -HK$0.05 (2.15%) to HK$2.28 on volume of 10.55m shares;
- CNOOC (0883), -HK$0.05 (1.18%) to HK$4.18 on volume of 67.93m shares;
- SHK Properties (0016), -HK$0.75 (1.01%) to HK$73.25 on volume of 1.92m shares;
- Denway Motors (0203), -HK$0.03 (0.86%) to HK$2.88 on volume of 6.24m shares;
- China Unicom (0762), -HK$0.05 (0.79%) to HK$6.25 on volume of 1.19m shares; and
- Swire Pacific A (0019), -HK$0.50 (0.72%) to HK$68.75 on volume of 579,000 shares.
| Regional Indices | |||||
| Country | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| New Zealand | NZSE50 | 3179.191 | 11.14 | 0.35% | 28.11m |
| Japan | Nikkei 225 | 11488.74 | 5.39 | 0.05% | 0 |
| Korea | KOSPI | 989.99 | -4.66 | -0.47% | 402069 |
| Singapore | Straits Times | 2200.1 | 2.72 | 0.12% | 0 |
| Hong Kong | Hang Seng | 13917.14 | -28.63 | -0.21% | 134.39m |
| Malaysia | KLSE Comp | 896.75 | 0 | 0% | 0 |
