Interdum stultus opportuna loquitur...

Saturday, December 03, 2005

OzRant: Very Late (It Was Friday Anyhow)...

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

I've been trying to re-enable Comments which disappeared a while ago for reasons I've never properly understood. In trying a couple of settings, I managed to lock myself out of the Blogger 'dashboard' completely for a day and a half.

The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries (XAO) - rose by 41.50 points (0.92%), finishing at 4573.80 points. The index hit an intraday high of 4589.30 (at a couple of minutes after 10:30 a.m. - no surprises there) and its low was 4532.3, set at the open. 

All global markets are now gyrating around based solely on news and hot money; the fundamentals (especially gobal equity valuations) are - for the moment - being trumped by the sustained hope that global monetary authorities will keep the taps open in order to keep the momentum through to year's end. As I've mentioned before, the burgeoning hedge fund industry did this last year - squeaked out a narrow gain for the year after being substantially underwater... thanks to massive liquidity pumping by the US Fed.

Total volume traded on the ASX was 1.13 billion units, just 0.1% above its 10-day average. Of the 487 stocks in the index, 188 rose while 92 fell. Volume was tilted in favour of the gainers by a margin of 1.9:1, with 391.21million shares traded in gainers while 206.11million 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) - rose by 43.40 points (0.95%), finishing at 4623.50 points.

The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders (XTL) - rose by 26.60 points (1.08%), finishing at 2480.60 points. Within the index members, there were 17 that rose, and just 1 loser (Wesfarmers). Fosters and AMP were unchanged. Total volume in rising issues within the ASX20 amounted to 95.56m units while volume in the WES was a scant 1.12m units.

The major winners in the "big guns" were -

  • Alumina (AWC), +$0.320 (5.07%) to $6.630 on volume of 4.99m shares;
  • Telstra Corporation (TLS), +$0.100 (2.6%) to $3.940 on volume of 41.19m shares;
  • Woodside Petroleum (WPL), +$0.900 (2.59%) to $35.600 on volume of 1.54m shares;
  • Rio Tinto (RIO), +$1.520 (2.52%) to $61.920 on volume of 1.98m shares; and
  • BHP Billiton (BHP), +$0.450 (2.09%) to $21.950 on volume of 14.76m shares.

The only loser in the big-guns:

  • Wesfarmers (WES), -$0.350 (0.98%) to $35.400 on volume of 1.12m shares.

At the smaller end of the market's capitalisation scale, the ASX Small Ordinaries Index (XSO) rose by 14.20 points (0.55%), finishing at 2590.10 points. The major winners in the "pop-guns" were -

  • Austral Coal (AUO), +$0.100 (9.62%) to $1.140 on volume of 1,000 shares;
  • Emperor Mines (EMP), +$0.040 (9.52%) to $0.460 on volume of 217,000 shares; and
  • Macquarie Leisure Trust Group (MLE), +$0.180 (7.66%) to $2.530 on volume of 210,000 shares; and
  • Bendigo Mining (BDG), +$0.080 (6.06%) to $1.400 on volume of 1.55m shares; and
  • Primelife Corporation (PLF), +$0.070 (5.74%) to $1.290 on volume of 219,000 shares.

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

  • Multiemedia (MUL), -$0.001 (8.33%) to $0.011 on volume of 4.4m shares;
  • Village Life Ltd (VLL), -$0.020 (6.35%) to $0.295 on volume of 501,000 shares; and
  • Capral Aluminium (CAA), -$0.080 (6.2%) to $1.210 on volume of 193,000 shares; and
  • Globe International (GLB), -$0.015 (5.17%) to $0.275 on volume of 99,000 shares; and
  • Integrated Group (IWF), -$0.080 (4.49%) to $1.700 on volume of 37,000 shares.
Index Changes
CodeNameClose+/-%Volume
XAOAll Ordinaries4573.841.50.92%690.08m
XTLS&P/ASX 202480.626.61.08%0
XFLS&P/ASX 504524.446.21.03%205.83m
XTOS&P/ASX 1003754.836.60.98%357.57m
XJOS&P/ASX 2004623.543.40.95%572.68m
XKOS&P/ASX 3004615.943.20.94%0
XMDS&P/ASX Mid-Cap 504666.232.80.71%0
XSOS&P/ASX Small Ordinaries2590.114.20.55%286.81m

All Ordinaries Market Internals

Market Breadth
ASX20XTOXJOXAOXSOMarket
Advances176912718899562
Declines115439251367
Advancing Volume95.56m296.34m347.26m391.2186.61658.87
Declining Volume1.12m21.88m188.16m206.11178.08253.65

S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices

In complete contrast to yesterday (when there were no winning sectors), today there was only one sector index that failed to advance.

The top sector for the day was XTJ Telecommunications which gained 2.35% to 1456.20 points. The sector was helped by

  • Telstra Corporation (TLS), +$0.100 (2.6%) to $3.940 on volume of 41.19m shares; and
  • Telecom Corporation Of New Zealand (TEL), +$0.070 (1.28%) to $5.520 on volume of 1.76m shares.

Second in the sector leadership stakes was XMJ Materials which gained 1.91% to 8744.20 points. The sector leaders were -

  • Alumina (AWC), +$0.320 (5.07%) to $6.630 on volume of 4.99m shares;
  • Newcrest Mining (NCM), +$0.890 (4.39%) to $21.150 on volume of 1.25m shares;
  • Oxiana (OXR), +$0.055 (4.1%) to $1.395 on volume of 7.56m shares;
  • Wattyl (WYL), +$0.090 (3.6%) to $2.590 on volume of 388,000 shares; and
  • Kingsgate Consolidated (KCN), +$0.120 (3.04%) to $4.070 on volume of 250,000 shares.

The bronze today went toXEJ Energy which gained 1.60% to 10532.30 points. The sector was led by

  • Arc Energy (ARQ), +$0.065 (3.81%) to $1.770 on volume of 678,000 shares;
  • Woodside Petroleum (WPL), +$0.900 (2.59%) to $35.600 on volume of 1.54m shares;
  • Santos (STO), +$0.240 (2.09%) to $11.700 on volume of 1.29m shares;
  • Oil Search (OSH), +$0.070 (2.02%) to $3.540 on volume of 2.26m shares; and
  • Australian Worldwide Exploration (AWE), +$0.020 (0.97%) to $2.080 on volume of 1.75m shares.

The only sector showing a loss today was XIJ Information Technology which lost 0.45% to 442.20 points. The sector was dragged lower by falls in just two of its 6 components - the two largest-cap components...

  • Vision Systems (VSL), -$0.025 (1.44%) to $1.710 on volume of 380,000 shares; and
  • Computershare (CPU), -$0.060 (0.87%) to $6.830 on volume of 824,000 shares.
Sector Indices
CodeGICS SectorClose+/-%Volume
XTJTelecommunications1456.233.52.35%42.95m
XMJMaterials8744.2163.71.91%145.61m
XEJEnergy10532.3165.91.6%158.67m
XXJASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts5639.339.80.71%42.81m
XUJUtilities547638.20.7%8.16m
XNJIndustrials5271.234.50.66%53.48m
XFJFinancials5462.134.30.63%136.14m
XHJHealthcare6240.326.60.43%9.69m
XDJConsumer Discretionary2234.78.60.39%24.13m
XPJProperty Trusts18586.40.35%95.55m
XSJConsumer Staples5888.412.10.21%27.17m
XIJInformation Technology442.2-2-0.45%2.91m

All Ordinaries Major Movers

All Ords Volume Leaders
CodeNameClose+/-%Volume
HDRHardman Resources1.83-0.08-4.19%148.27m
LHGLihir Gold2.120.041.92%58.65m
TLSTelstra Corporation3.940.12.6%41.19m
RRLRegis Resources0.1200%25.71m
BHPBHP Billiton21.950.452.09%14.76m
GSAGalileo Shopping America Trust1.170.010.43%14.1m
All Ords Percentage Gainers
CodeNameClose+/-%Volume
ALKAlkane Exploration0.230.029.76%2.39m
EMPEmperor Mines0.460.049.52%216855
MLEMacquarie Leisure Trust Group2.530.187.66%209689
PEPPeplin0.780.067.59%458448
DOMDominion Mining0.840.056.37%237571
All Ords Percentage Decliners
CodeNameClose+/-%Volume
PLTPolartechnics0.12-0.01-7.69%443000
VLLVillage Life Ltd0.3-0.02-6.35%501351
CAACapral Aluminium1.21-0.08-6.2%193411
PBDPort Bouvard1.81-0.09-4.74%187680
IWFIntegrated Group1.7-0.08-4.49%36785

Elsewhere in the Region...

Regional Indices
CountryNameClose+/-%Volume
New ZealandNZSE503297.2434.990.15%12.22m
JapanNikkei 22515421.6291.11.92%0
KoreaKOSPI1310.124.140.32%565151
SingaporeStraits Times2332.5221.530.93%0
Hong KongHang Seng15200.38132.350.88%350.37m
MalaysiaKLSE Comp885.14-2.66-0.3%0