Note - from June 24th 2009, this blog has migrated from Blogger to a self-hosted version. Click here to go straight there.
Mondays have always had an upwards bias, and nowadays there's the added jitters each Friday in case something blows up. We are reliably informed that the people who do the intermittent blowing-up of bits of western assets, "hate us" because of our decadence, not because we have spent the last ten centuries interfering in their shit. Still, I have my doubts - maybe if we stopped trying to pretend that brown folks are ours to push around as we see fit, the term 'blowback' would only relate to people who stand behind people firing SHRAAWs.
Anyhow - where was I...
Mondays... upwards bias. And always the test of one or other of the first-hour extremes (today it was a test of the early low) which lures nuffies onto the wrong side of the market. No matter - by the time the test took place, I was clutching my guts and praying for a quick death.
I never like to spew - invariably I cry like a little baby girl whenever I vom - so when something goes askew in the old alimentary canal I am always the schmoe who grits his teeth and hopes it goes away (or blasts out the other end like a spray of curdled chocolate milk).
No idea what it was that caused my innards to embark on a series of nocturnal somersaults (although The Lovely had the same problem - shorter-lived in her case since she was perfectly prepared to chunder it out). I suspect the mackerel that I had for lunch yesterday afternoon.
Anyhow - that's by way of explainin' why I didn't get this thing written before noon (Frog time). But check it out - it's all, like, functioning and stuff.
Major Market Indices
The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries (XAO) - rose by 41.70 points (0.83%), finishing at 5082.10 points. The index hit an intraday high of 5082.20 seconds before the close, and the session low (5040.4) was set exactly half an hour after play began.
Total volume traded on the ASX was 920-odd million units, 4.0% below its 10-day average. Of the 483 active index components, 187 rose while 88 fell. Volume was tilted in favour of the gainers by a margin of 4.8:1, with 352.98million shares traded in gainers while 72.92million shares traded in the day's losers. That's a level of mindless enthusiasm that you seldom see unless you're dealing with a 6 month old Labrador.
The Index that forms the cash basis for the SFE's Share Price Index Futures - the S&P/ASX 200 (XJO) - rose by 42.80 points (0.84%), finishing at 5120.00 points.
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders (XTL) - rose by 19.30 points (0.70%), finishing at 2786.00 points. Within the index members, there were 16 that rose, and 2 losers. Total volume in rising issues within the ASX20 amounted to 64.16 while volume in the losers totalled 4.67m units.
The major winners in the "big guns" were -
- Woodside Petroleum (WPL), +$1.600 (3.67%) to $45.250 on volume of 1.16m shares;
- Macquarie Bank (MBL), +$1.470 (2.25%) to $66.720 on volume of 587,000 shares;
- Westfield Group (WDC), +$0.350 (2.09%) to $17.120 on volume of 4.05m shares;
- Foster's Group (FGL), +$0.100 (1.8%) to $5.660 on volume of 3.28m shares; and
- BHP Billiton (BHP), +$0.370 (1.3%) to $28.850 on volume of 10.33m shares.
There were only two of the Top20 that finished in the minuses...:
- Rinker Group (RIN), -$0.340 (1.85%) to $18.060 on volume of 3.73m shares; and
- Suncorp-Metway (SUN), -$0.04 (0.21%) to $18.88 on volume of 932,000 shares;
At the smaller end of the market's capitalisation scale, the ASX Small Ordinaries Index (XSO) - the only place where underexploited value exists with any regularity - rose by 28.90 points (1.01%), finishing at 2896.20 points. The major winners in the "pop-guns" were -
- Multiemedia (MUL), +$0.001 (12.5%) to $0.009 on volume of 4.75m shares;
- Lynas Corporation (LYC), +$0.025 (8.33%) to $0.325 on volume of 446,000 shares; and
- Kagara Zinc (KZL), +$0.260 (7.03%) to $3.960 on volume of 878,000 shares; and
- Mosaic Oil (MOS), +$0.010 (6.9%) to $0.155 on volume of 1.88m shares; and
- Equigold (EQI), +$0.100 (6.49%) to $1.640 on volume of 106,000 shares.
The losingest-little-guys for the session were (in order of decline):
- Village Life Ltd (VLL), -$0.010 (6.67%) to $0.140 on volume of 221,000 shares;
- Consolidated Minerals (CSM), -$0.115 (6.02%) to $1.795 on volume of 3.47m shares; and
- Orbital Corporation (OEC), -$0.004 (4.3%) to $0.089 on volume of 107,000 shares; and
- Super Cheap Auto Group (SUL), -$0.080 (3.81%) to $2.020 on volume of 92,000 shares; and
- Technology One (TNE), -$0.025 (3.79%) to $0.635 on volume of 30,000 shares.
Index Changes
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 5082.1 | 41.7 | 0.83% | 482.25m |
| XTL | S&P/ASX 20 | 2786 | 19.3 | 0.7% | 0 |
| XFL | S&P/ASX 50 | 5013 | 39 | 0.78% | 163.77m |
| XTO | S&P/ASX 100 | 4158.3 | 34.5 | 0.84% | 295.78m |
| XJO | S&P/ASX 200 | 5120 | 42.8 | 0.84% | 383.57m |
| XKO | S&P/ASX 300 | 5116.1 | 43.3 | 0.85% | 0 |
| XMD | S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 5151.3 | 58.1 | 1.14% | 0 |
| XSO | S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries | 2896.2 | 28.9 | 1.01% | 141.09m |
All Ordinaries Market Internals
Wherever you look today, the optimism smacks you right in the physog (pronounced 'fizzog' - a contraction of 'physiognomy'). 2:1, 3:1, 5:1 tilts in favour of the gainers. That indicates that the market is getting stretched again, and it has only bounced about a quarter of the recent smackdown. Everyone thinks that it was just a 'dip to buy'. They're wrong.
Market Breadth
| ASX20 | XTO | XJO | XAO | XSO | Market | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advances | 16 | 68 | 118 | 187 | 98 | 555 |
| Declines | 2 | 18 | 45 | 88 | 53 | 459 |
| Advancing Volume | 64.16m | 245.49m | 293.03m | 352.98 | 87.93 | 540.61 |
| Declining Volume | 4.67m | 29.3m | 51.29m | 72.92 | 39.25 | 240.06 |
S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices
The top sector for the day was XEJ Energy which gained 2.56% to 12551.30 points. The sector was helped by
- Oil Search (OSH), +$0.190 (4.62%) to $4.300 on volume of 3.86m shares;
- Australian Worldwide Exploration (AWE), +$0.120 (3.9%) to $3.200 on volume of 1.11m shares;
- Woodside Petroleum (WPL), +$1.600 (3.67%) to $45.250 on volume of 1.16m shares;
- Arc Energy (ARQ), +$0.055 (3.43%) to $1.660 on volume of 1.24m shares; and
- Roc Oil Company (ROC), +$0.120 (2.99%) to $4.130 on volume of 1.35m shares.
Second in the sector leadership stakes was XPJ Property Trusts which gained 1.53% to 1980.40 points. The sector leaders were -
- Macquarie Countrywide Trust (MCW), +$0.050 (2.63%) to $1.950 on volume of 2.55m shares;
- General Property Trust (GPT), +$0.100 (2.43%) to $4.220 on volume of 4.59m shares;
- Westfield Group (WDC), +$0.350 (2.09%) to $17.120 on volume of 4.05m shares;
- Macquarie Prologis Trust (MPR), +$0.020 (1.66%) to $1.225 on volume of 1.97m shares; and
- ING Industrial Fund (IIF), +$0.030 (1.4%) to $2.180 on volume of 6.69m shares.
The bronze today went to XIJ Information Technology which gained 1.49% to 495.60 points. The sector was led by
- Vision Systems (VSL), +$0.090 (5%) to $1.890 on volume of 393,000 shares;
- IRESS Market Technology (IRE), +$0.190 (3.45%) to $5.690 on volume of 70,000 shares;
- Baycorp Advantage (BCA), +$0.080 (2.52%) to $3.250 on volume of 64,000 shares;
- MYOB (MYO), +$0.010 (1.2%) to $0.845 on volume of 441,000 shares; and
- Computershare (CPU), +$0.070 (0.9%) to $7.840 on volume of 827,000 shares.
The worst-performed sector today - and the only sector which showed a loss - was boring safe old XDJ Consumer Discretionary which lost 0.23% to 2354.00 points. The sector was dragged lower by
- Repco Corporation (RCL), -$0.050 (2.86%) to $1.700 on volume of 1.03m shares;
- Pacific Brands (PBG), -$0.060 (2.71%) to $2.150 on volume of 1.2m shares;
- APN News & Media (APN), -$0.130 (2.44%) to $5.200 on volume of 485,000 shares;
- Fairfax Holdings (FXJ), -$0.090 (2.36%) to $3.730 on volume of 8.85m shares; and
- Billabong International (BBG), -$0.220 (1.48%) to $14.640 on volume of 530,000 shares.
Sector Indices
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XEJ | Energy | 12551.3 | 313.4 | 2.56% | 20.76m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1980.4 | 29.8 | 1.53% | 89.71m |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 495.6 | 7.3 | 1.49% | 4.21m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 6580.3 | 74.6 | 1.15% | 8.69m |
| XMJ | Materials | 10828.5 | 117.2 | 1.09% | 93.35m |
| XUJ | Utilities | 5871.9 | 40.2 | 0.69% | 2.92m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 5491.4 | 36.7 | 0.67% | 45.12m |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 6259.4 | 41.4 | 0.67% | 22.15m |
| XXJ | ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts | 6138 | 29.6 | 0.48% | 38.47m |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1336 | 5 | 0.38% | 23.69m |
| XFJ | Financials | 5918.8 | 41.5 | 0.70% | 124.13m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 2354 | -5.5 | -0.23% | 30.38m |
All Ordinaries Major Movers
All Ords Volume Leaders
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IBA | IBA Health | 0.77 | -0.09 | -10.47% | 26.7m |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation | 3.80 | 0.01 | 0.26% | 22.76m |
| LHG | Lihir Gold | 3.24 | 0.28 | 9.46% | 18.8m |
| MIG | Macquarie Infrastructure Group | 3.54 | 0.03 | 0.85% | 15.5m |
| OXR | Oxiana | 3.19 | 0.09 | 2.9% | 15.34m |
| DRT | DB Rreef Trust | 1.49 | 0.01 | 0.34% | 14.73m |
All Ords Percentage Gainers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LHG | Lihir Gold | 3.24 | 0.28 | 9.46% | 18.8m |
| LYC | Lynas Corporation | 0.33 | 0.03 | 8.33% | 445590 |
| QPX | QPSX | 0.14 | 0.01 | 8% | 415562 |
| CIY | City Pacific | 3.94 | 0.29 | 7.95% | 306719 |
| CAG | Cape Range Wireless | 0.014 | 0.001 | 7.69% | 6.87m |
All Ords Percentage Decliners
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSM | Consolidated Minerals | 1.80 | -0.12 | -6.02% | 3.47m |
| ALK | Alkane Exploration | 0.16 | -0.01 | -5.88% | 602062 |
| SUL | Super Cheap Auto Group | 2.02 | -0.08 | -3.81% | 91636 |
| PLF | Primelife Corporation | 1.03 | -0.04 | -3.74% | 172244 |
| NLX | Nylex | 0.052 | -0.002 | -3.7% | 10.09m |
