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The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries- rose by 39.40 points (0.92%), finishing at 4302.70 points - a new closing record. The index hit an intraday high of 4309.80 - also a new record - just before 10:30 a.m. Sydney time. The session low was 4263.3, set at the open: the entire day's trading range was set in the first half-hour, and the remainder of the session was literally sideways.
There
was a clear sense of short-squeezing to the opening action - even though the
amount of short interest in stocks in always miniscule thanks to the
ludicrous ASX restrictions on the amount of stock that can legally be
held short. Still, there are always short futures, and squeezes in
those will drive index arb buying. That doesn't help explain the
outperformance of the small fry today though.
Total volume traded on the ASX was 1.04 billion units, 12.0% above its 10-day average.Of the 483 stocks in the index, 238 rose while 116 fell. Volume was tilted in favour of the gainers by a margin of 5.8:1, with 540.34million shares traded in gainers while 92.57million 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 42.00 points (0.98%), finishing at 4343.20 points.
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders
- rose by 23.30 points (1.01%), finishing at 2334.50 points. Within the
index members, there were 19 that rose, and 1 loser -Westpac Banking Corporation ( WBC),
-$0.06 (0.31%) to $19.49 on volume of 7.76m shares. Total volume in
rising issues within the ASX20 amounted to 123.04m units while volume
in the losers totalled 7.76m units.
Clearly
nothing will ever go wrong at any time in the future... not as long as
John Howard's tongue is within striking distance of George Bush's
sphincter. No risk premium is required in stocks whatsoever - despite
the fact that we live in a world where we are all supposed to be
shitting ourselves that the world is full of mad Musselmen who "hate
our
freedom". Comparing the 2-year note yield to the dividend yield on
stocks, 2-year notes are apparently riskier. I will bet here and now,
that in 2 years the aggregate return on 2-year notes will have beaten
the living crap out of the aggregate return on stocks over the same
period.
The major winners in the "big guns" were -
- Alumina (AWC), +$0.21 (3.75%) to $5.81 on volume of 8.61m shares;
- BHP Billiton (BHP), +$0.35 (1.88%) to $19.00 on volume of 19.58m shares; and
- AMP Limited (AMP), +$0.12 (1.81%) to $6.75 on volume of 11.34m shares; and
- Amcor (AMC), +$0.12 (1.76%) to $6.92 on volume of 2.39m shares; and
- Rio Tinto (RIO), +$0.74 (1.6%) to $46.87 on volume of 2.98m shares.
As already mentioned above, the sole loser in the big-guns was:
- Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC), -$0.06 (0.31%) to $19.49 on volume of 7.76m shares.
At the smaller end of the market's capitalisation scale, the ASX Small Ordinaries Index rose by 26.20 points (1.10%), finishing at 2405.50 points. The major winners in the "pop-guns" were -
- Multiemedia (MUL), +$0.004 (23.53%) to $0.021 on volume of 120.8m shares;
- Excel Coal (EXL), +$0.690 (9.25%) to $8.150 on volume of 1.83m shares; and
- Schaffer Corporation (SFC), +$0.400 (7.27%) to $5.900 on volume of 29,000 shares; and
- Kingsgate Consolidated (KCN), +$0.210 (7.22%) to $3.120 on volume of 972,000 shares; and
- Dragon Mining (DRA), +$0.010 (5.26%) to $0.200 on volume of 244,000 shares.
The losingest-little-guys for the session were (in order of decline):
- Lynas Corporation (LYC), -$0.010 (6.67%) to $0.140 on volume of 160,000 shares;
- Primelife Corporation (PLF), -$0.060 (5.56%) to $1.020 on volume of 1.2m shares; and
- Kresta Holdings (KRS), -$0.010 (4%) to $0.240 on volume of 74,000 shares; and
- Infomedia Ltd (IFM), -$0.025 (3.97%) to $0.605 on volume of 598,000 shares; and
- Antares Energy (AZZ), -$0.015 (3.33%) to $0.435 on volume of 421,000 shares.
| Index Changes | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 4302.7 | 39.4 | 0.92% | 744.93m |
| XTL | S&P/ASX 20 | 2334.5 | 23.3 | 1.01% | 130.8m |
| XFL | S&P/ASX 50 | 4289.1 | 40 | 0.94% | 267.96m |
| XTO | S&P/ASX 100 | 3529.8 | 33.3 | 0.95% | 405.25m |
| XJO | S&P/ASX 200 | 4343.2 | 42 | 0.98% | 514.51m |
| XKO | S&P/ASX 300 | 4334.7 | 41.5 | 0.97% | 0 |
| XMD | S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 4179.1 | 41.8 | 1.01% | 0 |
| XSO | S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries | 2405.5 | 26.2 | 1.1% | 276.54m |
All Ordinaries Market Internals
| Market Breadth | ||||||
| ASX20 | XTO | XJO | XAO | XSO | Market | |
| Advances | 19 | 73 | 138 | 238 | 107 | 511 |
| Declines | 1 | 19 | 40 | 116 | 50 | 380 |
| Advancing Volume | 123.04m | 308.57m | 373.3m | 540.34m | 210.06m | 615.2m |
| Declining Volume | 7.76m | 62.75m | 78.83m | 92.57m | 24.21m | 301.95m |
S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices
The top sector for the day was Information Technology which gained 2.35% to 387.80 points. The sector was helped by
- Computershare (CPU), +$0.160 (2.76%) to $5.960 on volume of 4.56m shares;
- IRESS Market Technology (IRE), +$0.110 (2.66%) to $4.240 on volume of 523,000 shares; and
- ERG (ERG), +$0.005 (1.89%) to $0.270 on volume of 1.66m shares; and
- Vision Systems (VSL), +$0.020 (1.74%) to $1.170 on volume of 2.28m shares; and
- Baycorp Advantage (BCA), +$0.040 (1.38%) to $2.940 on volume of 397,000 shares.
Second in the sector leadership stakes was Materials which gained 1.89% to 7629.20 points. The sector leaders were -
- Excel Coal (EXL), +$0.690 (9.25%) to $8.150 on volume of 1.83m shares;
- Kingsgate Consolidated (KCN), +$0.210 (7.22%) to $3.120 on volume of 972,000 shares; and
- Zinifex (ZFX), +$0.120 (4.11%) to $3.040 on volume of 5.29m shares; and
- Sims Group (SMS), +$0.590 (4%) to $15.330 on volume of 916,000 shares; and
- Alumina (AWC), +$0.210 (3.75%) to $5.810 on volume of 8.61m shares.
The bronze today went to Healthcare which gained 1.24% to 5393.80 points. The sector was led by
- Sonic Healthcare (SHL), +$0.340 (2.79%) to $12.540 on volume of 439,000 shares;
- DCA Group (DVC), +$0.090 (2.3%) to $4.000 on volume of 4.96m shares; and
- Mayne Group (MAY), +$0.100 (2.12%) to $4.810 on volume of 2.72m shares; and
- Healthscope (HSP), +$0.100 (2.01%) to $5.080 on volume of 1.9m shares; and
- Peptech (PTD), +$0.025 (1.66%) to $1.530 on volume of 828,000 shares.
| Sector Indices | |||||
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 387.8 | 8.9 | 2.35% | 10.6m |
| XMJ | Materials | 7629.2 | 141.7 | 1.89% | 122.24m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 5393.8 | 66.2 | 1.24% | 17.12m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 5160.9 | 54.9 | 1.08% | 57.18m |
| XEJ | Energy | 9725.1 | 86 | 0.89% | 26.99m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 2283 | 18.9 | 0.83% | 48.54m |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 5658.1 | 45.6 | 0.81% | 34.79m |
| XXJ | ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts | 5242.8 | 36.7 | 0.7% | 78.68m |
| XFJ | Financials | 5116.5 | 34.9 | 0.69% | 169.49m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1788.1 | 11.1 | 0.62% | 96.46m |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1793.5 | 5.1 | 0.29% | 29.36m |
| XUJ | Utilities | 4988.4 | 1.5 | 0.03% | 4.92m |
All Ordinaries Major Movers
| All Ords Volume Leaders | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation | 5.06 | 0.02 | 0.4% | 21.08m |
| BHP | BHP Billiton | 19.00 | 0.35 | 1.88% | 19.58m |
| DYL | Deep Yellow | 0.13 | -0.01 | -3.85% | 13.46m |
| MST | Metal Storm | 0.21 | 0.07 | 51.85% | 13.38m |
| TTS | Tattersall's | 3.21 | -0.02 | -0.62% | 13.35m |
| OSH | Oil Search | 3.31 | 0.03 | 0.91% | 12.05m |
| All Ords Percentage Gainers | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| MST | Metal Storm | 0.21 | 0.07 | 51.85% | 13.38m |
| MUL | Multiemedia | 0.021 | 0.004 | 23.53% | 120.8m |
| EXL | Excel Coal | 8.15 | 0.69 | 9.25% | 1.83m |
| GGN | Gallery Gold | 0.33 | 0.03 | 8.2% | 1.12m |
| SFC | Schaffer Corporation | 5.90 | 0.40 | 7.27% | 29454 |
| All Ords Percentage Decliners | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| PLF | Primelife Corporation | 1.02 | -0.06 | -5.56% | 1.2m |
| UNI | Unilife Medical Solutions | 0.6 | -0.03 | -4.76% | 105200 |
| IFM | Infomedia Ltd | 0.61 | -0.03 | -3.97% | 598483 |
| ABI | Ambri | 0.13 | -0.01 | -3.85% | 426501 |
| AZZ | Antares Energy | 0.44 | -0.02 | -3.33% | 420910 |
Elsewhere in the Region...
| Regional Indices | |||||
| Country | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| New Zealand | NZSE50 | 3310.381 | -9.36 | -0.28% | 23.71m |
| Japan | Nikkei 225 | 11786.73 | -2.62 | -0.02% | 0 |
| Korea | KOSPI | 1074.65 | 0.25 | 0.02% | 692908 |
| Singapore | Straits Times | 2313.35 | 4.09 | 0.18% | 0 |
| Hong Kong | Hang Seng | 14615.22 | 12.52 | 0.09% | 169.34m |
| Malaysia | KLSE Comp | 922.71 | -1.3 | -0.14% | 0 |
