Interdum stultus opportuna loquitur...

Thursday, September 15, 2005

OzRant: Interesting Times...

Note - from June 24th 2009, this blog has migrated from Blogger to a self-hosted version. Click here to go straight there.

The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries (XAO) - fell by 7.20 points (-0.16%), finishing at 4466.40 points. The index hit an intraday high of 4480.30 (as the XJO tried to break 4525 decisively, but failed) and its low was 4460.2 points. Oddly enough, the low appears to have been hit twice; once 25 minutes after the open, and again 25 minutes before the close.

I say 'oddly' because the odds of the exact low being touched twice is infinitessimally small. With 486 stocks in the XAO, the likelihood that a configuration of market-capitalisation-weighted prices at time A will be exactly the same as the market-cap-weighted combination of prices at  time B is very low... the odds that the two configurations would be pricisely the same and would be a low or a high is so remote as to be ludicrous.

Anyhow - I don't want to read too much into it, but I now declare open season on the XJO. I've done enough work now to have the same confidence with this index (and its futures corollary, the SPI) as I do with the S&P/Dow nexus. (You will notice that I never prognosticate about the Nasdaq - too hard... the same is true for the DAX). 

Anyhow- more on that in other forums (fora?).

Total volume traded on the ASX was an eye-popping 1.36 billion units, 29.1% above its 10-day average. It will take some digging to determine whether or not that is record volume - I would almost bet that in the 'go-go' days around 2000/01 there was higher volume. Still, it wouldn't be MUCH higher. 

Of the 483 stocks in the index, 195 fell while 150 managed a gain. Oddly enough though, Volume was tilted in favour of the gainers by a margin of 1.1:1, with 394.76million shares traded in gainers while 352.10million 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 (XJO) - fell by 4.40 points (-0.10%), finishing at 4513.90 points; its low was just above 4505 (4500-ish).

The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders (XTL) - rose by 0.10 points (0.00%as near to unchanged as makes no odds, in percentage terms), finishing at 2391.90 points. Within the index members, there were 9 that rose, and 11 losers. Total volume in rising issues within the ASX20 amounted to 125.15 while volume in the losers totalled 77.23m units.

The major winners in the "big guns" were -

  • Woodside Petroleum (WPL), +$0.610 (1.9%) to $32.710 on volume of 2.8m shares;
  • Telstra Corporation (TLS), +$0.080 (1.83%) to $4.440 on volume of 61.5m shares;
  • Rio Tinto (RIO), +$0.850 (1.65%) to $52.440 on volume of 4.2m shares;
  • Coles Myer Ltd (CML), +$0.070 (0.69%) to $10.220 on volume of 4.94m shares; and
  • BHP Billiton (BHP), +$0.110 (0.53%) to $20.700 on volume of 25.69m shares.

The following stocks made up the biggest percentage losers in the big-guns:

  • News Corporation (NWSLV), -$0.42 (2.01%) to $20.43 on volume of 7.71m shares;
  • News Corporation (NWS), -$0.34 (1.53%) to $21.88 on volume of 7.03m shares; and
  • Westfield Group (WDC), -$0.25 (1.43%) to $17.18 on volume of 10.64m shares; and
  • St George Bank (SGB), -$0.26 (0.94%) to $27.52 on volume of 2.6m shares; and
  • Foster's Group (FGL), -$0.04 (0.69%) to $5.75 on volume of 8.88m shares.

At the smaller end of the market's capitalisation scale, the ASX Small Ordinaries Index (XSO) rose by 1.60 points (0.06%), finishing at 2598.90 points. The major winners in the "pop-guns" were -

  • Norwood Abbey (NAL), +$0.060 (15%) to $0.460 on volume of 907,000 shares;
  • Tap Oil (TAP), +$0.210 (8.3%) to $2.740 on volume of 1.95m shares; and
  • Kimberley Diamond Company (KIM), +$0.080 (7.41%) to $1.160 on volume of 3.99m shares; and
  • Resolute Mining (RSG), +$0.070 (7.22%) to $1.040 on volume of 602,000 shares; and
  • SP Telemedia (SOT), +$0.095 (5.78%) to $1.740 on volume of 222,000 shares.

The losingest-little-guys for the session were (in order of decline):

  • Collection House (CLH), -$0.110 (6.51%) to $1.580 on volume of 72,000 shares;
  • Sunland Group (SDG), -$0.075 (4.4%) to $1.630 on volume of 526,000 shares; and
  • Envestra (ENV), -$0.045 (3.57%) to $1.215 on volume of 1.51m shares; and
  • Fleetwood Corporation (FWD), -$0.240 (3.41%) to $6.800 on volume of 297,000 shares; and
  • Symex Holdings (SYM), -$0.050 (3.25%) to $1.490 on volume of 62,000 shares.
Index Changes
CodeNameClose+/-%Volume
XAOAll Ordinaries4466.4-7.2-0.16%877.09m
XTLS&P/ASX 202391.90.10%202.38m
XFLS&P/ASX 504412.4-2.4-0.05%389.17m
XTOS&P/ASX 1003656.9-3.8-0.1%610.87m
XJOS&P/ASX 2004513.9-4.4-0.1%740.66m
XKOS&P/ASX 3004508-3.9-0.09%0
XMDS&P/ASX Mid-Cap 504507.2-17.4-0.38%0
XSOS&P/ASX Small Ordinaries2598.91.60.06%212.09m

All Ordinaries Market Internals

Market Breadth
ASX20XTOXJOXAOXSOMarket
Advances9306415062466
Declines115710019584417
Advancing Volume125.15m259.87m338.39m394.7692.42680.4
Declining Volume77.23m286.86m307.7m352.161.04459.3

S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices

The top sector for the day was XTJ Telecommunications which gained 1.52% to 1608.10 points - looks like a load of folks are lining up to snaffle the Telstra dividends (TLS goes ex-div 13¢ on the 20th, and ex a special 20¢ dividend on the 26th). 

  • Telstra Corporation (TLS), +$0.080 (1.83%) to $4.440 on volume of 61.49m shares; and
  • Telecom Corporation Of New Zealand (TEL), unchanged at $5.550 on volume of 5.56m shares.

Second in the sector leadership stakes was XEJ Energy which gained 0.84% to 10166.90 points - not surprising given the bounce in Crude Oil. The sector leaders were -

  • Tap Oil (TAP), +$0.210 (8.3%) to $2.740 on volume of 1.95m shares;
  • Roc Oil Company (ROC), +$0.110 (4.58%) to $2.510 on volume of 2.04m shares;
  • Arc Energy (ARQ), +$0.080 (4.02%) to $2.070 on volume of 1.17m shares;
  • Woodside Petroleum (WPL), +$0.610 (1.9%) to $32.710 on volume of 2.8m shares; and
  • Oil Search (OSH), +$0.060 (1.73%) to $3.530 on volume of 8.99m shares.

The bronze today went to XMJ Materials which gained 0.71% to 8296.20 points. The sector was led by

  • Kimberley Diamond Company (KIM), +$0.080 (7.41%) to $1.160 on volume of 3.99m shares;
  • Gunns (GNS), +$0.210 (6.86%) to $3.270 on volume of 4.17m shares;
  • CSR (CSR), +$0.100 (3.6%) to $2.880 on volume of 9.24m shares;
  • Orica (ORI), +$0.590 (2.88%) to $21.100 on volume of 2.71m shares; and
  • Paperlinx (PPX), +$0.080 (2.67%) to $3.080 on volume of 7.14m shares.

The worst-performed sector today was XPJ Property Trusts which lost 0.90% to 1871.90 points. The sector was dragged lower by

  • Thakral Holdings Group (THG), -$0.015 (1.9%) to $0.775 on volume of 726,000 shares;
  • Westfield Group (WDC), -$0.250 (1.43%) to $17.180 on volume of 10.64m shares; and
  • CFS Gandel Retail Trust (GAN), -$0.025 (1.38%) to $1.790 on volume of 6.4m shares; and
  • Commonwealth Property Office Fund (CPA), -$0.015 (1.15%) to $1.285 on volume of 7.62m shares; and
  • Stockland (SGP), -$0.070 (1.13%) to $6.120 on volume of 9.55m shares.

Just in front of last place on the sector table was XDJ Consumer Discretionary which lost 0.73% to 2339.30 points - dragged down primarily by wekaness in the soon-to-bugger-off News Corpse. The sector was pulled down by

  • Fleetwood Corporation (FWD), -$0.240 (3.41%) to $6.800 on volume of 297,000 shares;
  • Village Roadshow (VRLPA), -$0.070 (2.95%) to $2.300 on volume of 140,000 shares;
  • Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group (MCG), -$0.150 (2.44%) to $6.000 on volume of 3.06m shares;
  • Unitab (UTB), -$0.270 (2.07%) to $12.800 on volume of 1.03m shares; and
  • News Corporation (NWSLV), -$0.420 (2.01%) to $20.430 on volume of 7.71m shares.
Sector Indices
CodeGICS SectorClose+/-%Volume
XTJTelecommunications1608.124.11.52%67.06m
XEJEnergy10166.984.40.84%40.57m
XMJMaterials8296.258.20.71%163.1m
XSJConsumer Staples5858.8-8.7-0.15%37.72m
XIJInformation Technology433.4-1.1-0.25%10.07m
XUJUtilities5205.8-13.8-0.26%7.94m
XXJASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts5386.3-19.3-0.36%108.4m
XNJIndustrials5343.8-22.2-0.41%81.56m
XFJFinancials5278.1-25.4-0.48%258.14m
XHJHealthcare5838.8-35.8-0.61%19.48m
XDJConsumer Discretionary2339.3-17.3-0.73%64.05m
XPJProperty Trusts1871.9-17-0.9%160.38m

All Ordinaries Major Movers

All Ords Volume Leaders
CodeNameClose+/-%Volume
TLSTelstra Corporation4.440.081.83%61.49m
BHPBHP Billiton20.70.110.53%25.69m
DYLDeep Yellow0.14-0.01-3.45%20.7m
MOFMacquarie Office Trust1.37-0.01-0.36%20.41m
QANQantas Airways3.33-0.01-0.3%18.01m
LHGLihir Gold1.570.042.61%17.94m
All Ords Percentage Gainers
CodeNameClose+/-%Volume
OMIOccupational & Medical Innovations1.120.1920.43%120988
TIRTitan Resources0.0480.00717.07%3.93m
MXLMXL0.10.01416.28%16.95m
NALNorwood Abbey0.460.0615%907112
TAPTap Oil2.740.218.3%1.95m
All Ords Percentage Decliners
CodeNameClose+/-%Volume
CLHCollection House1.58-0.11-6.51%71767
MSTMetal Storm0.28-0.02-5.08%1.1m
SDGSunland Group1.63-0.08-4.4%525650
ENVEnvestra1.22-0.05-3.57%1.51m
FWDFleetwood Corporation6.8-0.24-3.41%296612

Elsewhere in the Region...

Regional Indices
CountryNameClose+/-%Volume
New ZealandNZSE503415.68610.050.3%24.97m
JapanNikkei 22512986.78152.531.19%0
KoreaKOSPI1169.59-1.18-0.1%480183
SingaporeStraits Times2315.392.040.09%0
Hong KongHang Seng15067.14-19.48-0.13%119.77m
MalaysiaKLSE Comp916.882.140.23%0