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Sometimes you know what you ought to do, but you don't do it. do you? You know that crumpets with butter and Golden Syrup are going to give you acid stomach, and you really should have some cruditées (sliced raw veg - carrots, celery and so on). But you also know that the acid stomach is hours away, and those crumpets could be ready in minutes.
Then before you know it; it's time to write the OzRant and you're reaching for the Mylanta.
And so it is in the investment world. We know that the sensible thing to do is to assiduously analyse the investable universe, using fundamental tools. Is this a good investment? You ought to be asking. Then, you examine how this 'good investment' is travelling, and you hope it's not doing too well (otherwise everybody already knows what you now suspect). If you get good fundamentals and a lousy chart, you watch it and wait for sentiment to change.
Now, how many people actually use that rather basic outline as their investment methodology? I know I sure as hell don't. If I was managing other people's money I ought to though. And yet I know from experience (I used to interview these clowns) that the people entrusted wit other people's money are just as 'in love' with their stocks as the next nuffnuff through the door. And when they buy momentum, these clowns create momentum.
So a financial year-end with
the possibility of a Greenspan-ego-wank by tonight's US markets - of
course it becomes a time to declare full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes.
Major Market Indices
After forming a funny little triangle that came to a point at 1 p.m. the end-of-year window-dressing got the better of everyone, and the market climbed right through to 3:30 p.m.; in that time the ASX All Ordinaries went from 4209 points (ten minutes after the open) to 4238.10, eventually settling with a gain of 13.30 points (0.32%) at 4229.90 points.
Total
volume traded on the ASX was very strong at 1.15 billion units, 13.5%
above its 10-day average (which in turn is now a tad above 1 billion
shares).
Of the 483 stocks in the index, 232 rose while 153 fell. Volume was tilted in favour of the gainers by a margin of 1.9:1, with 305.46million shares traded in gainers while 160.98million shares traded in the day's losers.
The Index that forms the cash basis for the SFE's Share Price Index Futures - the S&P/ASX 200 - rose by 14.50 points (0.34%), finishing at 4277.50 points.
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders - rose by 6.70 points (0.29%), finishing at 2301.20 points. Within the index members, there were 15 that rose, and 5 losers. Total volume in rising issues within the ASX20 amounted to 52.23 while volume in the losers totalled 23.59m units.
The major winners in the "big guns" were -
- Woodside Petroleum (WPL), +$0.43 (1.49%) to $29.35 on volume of 1.44m shares;
- QBE Insurance Group (QBE), +$0.20 (1.26%) to $16.10 on volume of 2.03m shares; and
- Woolworths (WOW), +$0.18 (1.1%) to $16.60 on volume of 1.25m shares; and
- Amcor (AMC), +$0.07 (1.05%) to $6.72 on volume of 2.69m shares; and
- St George Bank (SGB), +$0.24 (0.92%) to $26.23 on volume of 1.3m shares.
The following stocks made up the biggest percentage losers in the big-guns:
- Alumina (AWC), -$0.07 (1.24%) to $5.59 on volume of 3.08m shares;
- News Corporation (NWSLV), -$0.11 (0.51%) to $21.35 on volume of 1.32m shares; and
- News Corporation (NWS), -$0.10 (0.44%) to $22.39 on volume of 1.99m shares; and
- Wesfarmers (WES), -$0.08 (0.2%) to $40.18 on volume of 916,000 shares; and
- Telstra Corporation (TLS), -$0.01 (0.2%) to $5.08 on volume of 16.27m shares.
At the smaller end of the market's capitalisation scale, the ASX Small Ordinaries Index rose by 12.70 points (0.54%), finishing at 2371.00 points. The major winners in the "pop-guns" were -
- Chemeq (CMQ), +$0.15 (14.85%) to $1.16 on volume of 1.22m shares;
- Emperor Mines (EMP), +$0.02 (9.52%) to $0.23 on volume of 16,000 shares; and
- Agenix (AGX), +$0.03 (8.93%) to $0.31 on volume of 664,000 shares; and
- Circadian Technologies (CIR), +$0.09 (8.11%) to $1.20 on volume of 180,000 shares; and
- Croesus Mining (CRS), +$0.02 (5.88%) to $0.36 on volume of 4.79m shares.
The losingest-little-guys for the session were (in order of decline):
- Village Life Ltd (VLL), -$0.04 (7.14%) to $0.46 on volume of 6.25m shares;
- Multiemedia (MUL), -$0.00 (7.14%) to $0.01 on volume of 16.07m shares; and
- Sirtex Medical (SRX), -$0.09 (5.8%) to $1.38 on volume of 116,000 shares; and
- Keycorp (KYC), -$0.10 (5.03%) to $1.89 on volume of 450,000 shares; and
- Orbital Corporation (OEC), -$0.01 (4.55%) to $0.11 on volume of 1.52m shares.
| Index Changes | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 4229.9 | 13.3 | 0.32% | 568.33m |
| XTL | S&P/ASX 20 | 2301.2 | 6.7 | 0.29% | 75.83m |
| XFL | S&P/ASX 50 | 4222.4 | 13.3 | 0.32% | 164.72m |
| XTO | S&P/ASX 100 | 3476.1 | 11.5 | 0.33% | 285.52m |
| XJO | S&P/ASX 200 | 4277.5 | 14.5 | 0.34% | 388.23m |
| XKO | S&P/ASX 300 | 4269.1 | 15 | 0.35% | 0 |
| XMD | S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 4123.8 | 17.6 | 0.43% | 0 |
| XSO | S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries | 2371 | 12.7 | 0.54% | 230.06m |
All Ordinaries Market Internals
| Market Breadth | ||||||
| ASX20 | XTO | XJO | XAO | XSO | Market | |
| Advances | 15 | 68 | 113 | 232 | 93 | 596 |
| Declines | 5 | 27 | 67 | 153 | 68 | 458 |
| Advancing Volume | 52.23m | 190.12m | 222.03m | 305.46 | 117.61 | 624.03 |
| Declining Volume | 23.59m | 75.63m | 106.2m | 160.98 | 70.37 | 331.93 |
S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices
The top sector for the day was Energy which gained 1.12% to 9504.60 points. The sector was helped by
- Caltex Australia (CTX), +$0.54 (3.52%) to $15.89 on volume of 462,000 shares;
- Worleyparsons (WOR), +$0.26 (3.45%) to $7.80 on volume of 551,000 shares; and
- Origin Energy (ORG), +$0.18 (2.42%) to $7.62 on volume of 1.59m shares; and
- Australian Worldwide Exploration (AWE), +$0.03 (1.5%) to $2.03 on volume of 483,000 shares; and
- Woodside Petroleum (WPL), +$0.43 (1.49%) to $29.35 on volume of 1.44m shares.
Second in the sector leadership stakes was ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts which gained 0.50% to 5172.40 points. The sector leaders were -
- SFE Corporation (SFE), +$0.39 (3.78%) to $10.72 on volume of 416,000 shares;
- Oamps (OMP), +$0.08 (3.23%) to $2.56 on volume of 377,000 shares; and
- Tower (TWR), +$0.06 (3.18%) to $1.95 on volume of 820,000 shares; and
- Bendigo Bank (BEN), +$0.18 (1.85%) to $9.90 on volume of 99,000 shares; and
- Bank Of Queensland (BOQ), +$0.18 (1.53%) to $11.94 on volume of 134,000 shares.
The bronze today went to Utilities which gained 0.47% to 4951.90 points. The sector was led by
- Australian Gas Light Company (AGL), +$0.12 (0.85%) to $14.27 on volume of 847,000 shares;
- Diversified Utility And Energy Trusts (DUE), +$0.02 (0.82%) to $2.47 on volume of 2.07m shares;
- Australian Pipeline Trust (APA), +$0.02 (0.54%) to $3.73 on volume of 91,000 shares;
- Envestra (ENV), +$0.01 (0.45%) to $1.13 on volume of 249,000 shares; and
- Alinta (ALN), +$0.04 (0.41%) to $9.74 on volume of 1.12m shares.
The worst-performed sector today was Information Technology which lost 0.67% to 386.10 points. The sector was dragged lower by
- Vision Systems (VSL), -$0.03 (2.19%) to $1.12 on volume of 913,000 shares;
- ERG (ERG), -$0.01 (2.08%) to $0.24 on volume of 4.99m shares;
- Computershare (CPU), -$0.07 (1.18%) to $5.87 on volume of 715,000 shares;
- MYOB (MYO), -$0.01 (0.93%) to $1.07 on volume of 2.05m shares; and
- Infomedia Ltd (IFM), -$0.00 (0%) to $0.50 on volume of 1.5m shares.
Just in front of last place on the sector table was Telecommunications which lost 0.42% to 1793.90 points. The sector was pulled down by
- Telstra Corporation (TLS), -$0.01 (0.2%) to $5.08 on volume of 16.27m shares; and
- Telecom Corporation Of New Zealand (TEL), +$0.02 (0.36%) to $5.52 on volume of 3.84m shares.
| Sector Indices | |||||
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XEJ | Energy | 9504.6 | 105.7 | 1.12% | 14.19m |
| XXJ | ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts | 5172.4 | 25.7 | 0.5% | 52.41m |
| XUJ | Utilities | 4951.9 | 23.1 | 0.47% | 4.91m |
| XMJ | Materials | 7320.5 | 32.8 | 0.45% | 96.32m |
| XFJ | Financials | 5069.1 | 21.4 | 0.42% | 127.86m |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 5610.6 | 15.1 | 0.27% | 31.3m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 2233.5 | 3.5 | 0.16% | 63.76m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1798.6 | 2.7 | 0.15% | 77.76m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 5202.4 | 2.6 | 0.05% | 34.71m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 5278.2 | -1.4 | -0.03% | 9.89m |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1793.9 | -7.6 | -0.42% | 20.12m |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 386.1 | -2.6 | -0.67% | 10.82m |
All Ordinaries Major Movers
| All Ords Volume Leaders | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| JST | Just Group | 2.12 | 0.03 | 1.44% | 23.78m |
| MXG | Multiplex Group | 2.92 | 0.10 | 3.55% | 18.51m |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation | 5.08 | -0.01 | -0.2% | 16.27m |
| BHP | BHP Billiton | 18.19 | 0.06 | 0.33% | 12.1m |
| NLX | Nylex | 0.26 | 0.01 | 4% | 10.41m |
| OXR | Oxiana | 0.89 | -0.02 | -1.67% | 9.23m |
| All Ords Percentage Gainers | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| ETW | Evans & Tate | 0.5 | 0.1 | 25% | 6.91m |
| CMQ | Chemeq | 1.16 | 0.15 | 14.85% | 1.22m |
| ALK | Alkane Exploration | 0.155 | 0.015 | 10.71% | 619158 |
| ADA | Adacel Technologies | 0.28 | 0.025 | 9.8% | 237880 |
| AGX | Agenix | 0.305 | 0.025 | 8.93% | 664122 |
[]
| All Ords Percentage Decliners | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| AGI | Ainsworth Game Technology | 0.46 | -0.07 | -13.21% | 2.06m |
| IAS | International All Sports | 0.18 | -0.025 | -12.2% | 339692 |
| PLT | Polartechnics | 0.175 | -0.02 | -10.26% | 615634 |
| VLL | Village Life Ltd | 0.455 | -0.035 | -7.14% | 6.25m |
| MUL | Multiemedia | 0.013 | -0.001 | -7.14% | 16.07m |
Elsewhere in the Region...
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose a scant 6.57 points (0.06%) to close at 11584.01 points. The index traded in a very tight range, hitting a high of 11589.63 right on 10 a.m. Tokyo time, and dipping to 11542.45 points just prior to lunch (it was below 11550 for literally two minutes).
The Kiwi Market advanced 33.69 points (1.05%) in yet another 'coast to coast' job (well, there was a little 9-point dip at the open to the day's low of 3207.427 - let's call that 3200-ish) . The index hit a high of 3247.209 (3250-ish) tn minutes before the close before eventually setting at 3146.488 points.
A total of 33 stocks within the NZSE50 rose, with volume in advancers totalling 22.2million units. Decliners numbered 5, and total volume traded in losers was 4.5million shares. Individual stocks that shoneincluded...
- Sanford Limited O (SAN), +NZ$0.25 (5.75%) to NZ$4.60 on volume of 83,000 shares;
- Tower Limited (TWR), +NZ$0.08 (3.86%) to NZ$2.15 on volume of 1.48m shares;
- Cavalier Corporation (CAV), +NZ$0.15 (3.85%) to NZ$4.05 on volume of 13,000 shares;
- Fisher & Paykel H (FPH), +NZ$0.12 (3.82%) to NZ$3.26 on volume of 1.41m shares;
- Nuplex Industries (NPX), +NZ$0.16 (3.7%) to NZ$4.48 on volume of 175,000 shares; and
- Steel & Tube Holdings (STU), +NZ$0.16 (3.45%) to NZ$4.80 on volume of 69,000 shares.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index advanced a meagre 11.00 points (0.08%) to rest at 14288.28 at lunchtime. The index opened with some strength, but that soon evaporated and the entire morning was spent in a range between 14250-ish (the low was 14257.38) and 14300-ish (the high was 14310.77).
Within the Hang Seng, 14 index components rose, while 10 stocks fell. Volume in the gainers in Hong Kong's big-cap index totalled 103.2 million units, and total volume traded in losers was 36.4 million shares. Individual stocks that contributed to the advance included...
- Yue Yuen Industries (0551), +HK$0.90 (3.92%) to HK$23.85 on volume of 1.54m shares;
- Li & Fung (0494), +HK$0.45 (2.88%) to HK$16.10 on volume of 5.59m shares;
- MTR Corporation (0066), +HK$0.40 (2.73%) to HK$15.05 on volume of 7.79m shares;
- CNOOC (0883), +HK$0.08 (1.62%) to HK$4.70 on volume of 68.72m shares;
- China Unicom (0762), +HK$0.10 (1.54%) to HK$6.60 on volume of 2.6m shares; and
- China Resources (0291), +HK$0.10 (0.84%) to HK$12.05 on volume of 1.12m shares.
| Regional Indices | |||||
| Country | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| New Zealand | NZSE50 | 3246.488 | 33.69 | 1.05% | 37.82m |
| Japan | Nikkei 225 | 11584.01 | 6.57 | 0.06% | 0 |
| Korea | KOSPI | 1008.16 | 9.08 | 0.91% | 500569 |
| Singapore | Straits Times | 2205.18 | 2.91 | 0.13% | 0 |
| Hong Kong | Hang Seng | 14288.28 | 11 | 0.08% | 163.46m |
| Malaysia | KLSE Comp | 891.49 | 1.51 | 0.17% | 0 |
