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Boy, there will be some mightily wrathful holders of stocks whose names include "Babcock" and/or "Brown" today (I'm not going to try and place any blame on the ampersand). Who would have thought that the business of managing ETFs (which is basically what they do, let's face it) would be so hard?
Seems they thought it was about sticky-taping together an idea that seemed sale-able, and then listing it. Seems they might have been wrong.
Ah well - doubtless those in charge have pocketed seven or eight figure sums; while they may in time be required to show contrition for the cameras, I am sure that all that money will soften any psychological effects of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and/or the poor man's calumny and/or the pangs of dispriz'd love.
Speaking of outrageous fortunes... to my way of thinking, any fortune earned as a simple employee is per se outrageous. If you're risking your own capital then the rewards belong rightly to you; if you're deploying other people's then the rewards rightly belong to them first. The trend towards glorified bank managers who pull down $10 mill a year - while stock prices and profits decline - has got to be reversed.
Major Market Indices
The broad market - the All Ordinaries (XAO) - declined almost imperceptibly, dropping 2.2 points (0.04%), finishing at 5036.8 points. The index hit an intraday high of 5054.9 at 3:16 pm, while the low for the day was 5009.9 - set at 11:50 am Sydney time.
Total volume traded on the ASX was 918.6m units, 18.2% below its 10-day average. The ASX's daily listing of all stocks included 1235 different 3-letter FPO's which traded (i.e., had non-zero trade volume). Of these, 475 issues rose, with volume in rising issues totalling 344m units; decliners numbered 493 counters, and between them they traded aggregate declining volume of 470.3m shares.
Of the 494 All Ordinaries components, 208 rose while 203 fell. Volume was tilted in favour of the losers by a margin of 1.3:1, with 289.03m shares traded in gainers while 384.3m 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) - was as near to unchanged as makes no odds. The index lost 1.3 points (0.03%), closing out the session at 4979.8 points.
| Name | Close | +/-(%) |
|---|---|---|
| All Ordinaries | 5036.80 | -2.20 (0.0%) |
| ASX 20 | 2834.40 | 3.90 (0.1%) |
| ASX 50 | 4897.20 | 5.10 (0.1%) |
| ASX 100 | 4039.50 | 1.00 (0.0%) |
| ASX 200 | 4979.80 | -1.30 (0.0%) |
| ASX 300 | 4972.80 | -1.00 (0.0%) |
| ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 4837.80 | -23.00 (0.5%) |
| ASX Small Ordinaries | 2812.90 | -12.20 (0.4%) |
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders (XTL) - advanced by under a percent, adding 3.9 points (0.14%), closing out the session at 2834.4 points.
The 20 stocks which make up the index traded a rather feeble total of 137.81m units; 11 index components rose, with rising volume amounting to 98.05m shares, while the 9 decliners had volume traded totalling 39.76m units. The major percentage gainers within the index were
- Suncorp-Metway (SUN), +$0.84 (7.29%) to $12.37 on volume of 5.7 million shares;
- Stockland (SGP), +$0.24 (5.13%) to $4.92 on volume of 5.5 million shares;
- Telstra Corporation (TLS), +$0.14 (3.29%) to $4.40 on volume of 47.1 million shares;
- Westfield Group (WDC), +$0.52 (3.28%) to $16.37 on volume of 6.5 million shares; and
- Foster's Group (FGL), +$0.09 (1.7%) to $5.39 on volume of 9.4 million shares.
Resources dmoinated the less salubrious side of the big-cap fence. The worst-performed within the index were:
- Woodside Petroleum (WPL), -$1.44 (2.59%) to $54.13 on volume of 1.7 million shares;
- Rio Tinto (RIO), -$2.9 (2.46%) to $115.05 on volume of 1.1 million shares;
- CSL (CSL), -$0.65 (1.73%) to $37.00 on volume of 7.4 million shares;
- BHP Billiton (BHP), -$0.65 (1.68%) to $38.05 on volume of 9.6 million shares; and
- QBE Insurance Group (QBE), -$0.35 (1.49%) to $23.15 on volume of 2.6 million shares.
At the other end of the market-cap spectrum lie the denizens of the ASX Small Ordinaries (XSO). The Small Ords slid modestly, falling 12.2 points (0.43%), closing out the session at 2812.9 points.
The 195 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 203.91m units: volume in the 79 gainers totalling 60.43m shares, with trade totalling 128.8m units in the index's 94 declining components. The major percentage gainers within the index were- Salmat Limited (SLM), +$0.34 (12.83%) to $2.99 on volume of 28.5 thousand shares;
- STW Communications Group (SGN), +$0.12 (11.43%) to $1.17 on volume of 906.8 thousand shares;
- Rubicon America Trust (RAT), +$0.01 (11.25%) to $0.09 on volume of 398.1 thousand shares;
- Mintails Limited (MLI), +$0.02 (11.11%) to $0.20 on volume of 5.5 thousand shares; and
- Challenger Diversified Property Group (CDI), +$0.06 (9.82%) to $0.62 on volume of 1.7 million shares.
In the red-zone of the little-stock index, the following list represents the biggest downers (in terms of percentage decline):
- Babcock & Brown Power (BBP), -$0.06 (12.24%) to $0.43 on volume of 12.9 million shares;
- Compass Resources (CMR), -$0.11 (9.73%) to $1.02 on volume of 1.3 million shares;
- Bannerman Resources (BMN), -$0.1 (9.09%) to $1.00 on volume of 1.1 million shares;
- Babcock & Brown Wind Partners Group (BBW), -$0.13 (7.89%) to $1.46 on volume of 5.6 million shares; and
- Marion Energy (MAE), -$0.06 (7.32%) to $0.76 on volume of 1.1 million shares.
Index Changes
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 5036.8 | -2.2 | -0.04 | 705.3m |
| XFL | ASX 50 | 4897.2 | 5.1 | 0.1 | 300.5m |
| XJO | ASX 200 | 4979.8 | -1.3 | -0.03 | 596.5m |
| XKO | ASX 300 | 4972.8 | -1 | -0.02 | 649m |
| XMD | ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 4837.8 | -23 | -0.47 | 144.7m |
| XSO | ASX Small Ordinaries | 2812.9 | -12.2 | -0.43 | 203.9m |
| XTL | ASX 20 | 2834.4 | 3.9 | 0.14 | 137.8m |
| XTO | ASX 100 | 4039.5 | 1 | 0.02 | 445.1m |
Market Breadth
| ASX20 | XTO | XJO | XAO | XSO | Market | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advances | 11 | 48 | 85 | 208 | 79 | 475 |
| Declines | 9 | 47 | 103 | 203 | 94 | 493 |
| Advancing Volume | 98.1m | 206.3m | 252.4m | 289m | 60.4m | 344m |
| Declining Volume | 39.8m | 227.8m | 325.3m | 384.3m | 128.8m | 470.3m |
GICS Industry Indices
Among the 11 industry indices, it was pretty much even stevens, with a very slight lead to the duds... the 5 that had an "up" day were just shaded by the remaining 6 which didn't.
The best performing index was Telecommunications (XTJ), which added 42.1 points (2.88%) to 1504.3 points. The 3 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 53.44m units; 2 index components rose, with rising volume amounting to 48.87m shares, while sole declining stock traded 4.57m units. The major percentage gainers within the index were
- Telstra Corporation Limited. (TLS), +$0.14 (3.29%) to $4.40 on volume of 47.1 million shares; and
- Singapore Telecommunications Limited. (SGT), +$0.03 (1.07%) to $2.84 on volume of 1.8 million shares.
Second in the index leadership stakes was Property Trusts (XPJ), which gained 34.7 points (2.55%) to 1394.3 points. The 21 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 106.89m units; 14 index components rose, with rising volume amounting to 64.77m shares, while the 6 decliners had volume traded totalling 36.26m units. The major percentage gainers within the index were
- Macquarie DDR Trust (MDT), +$0.03 (9.52%) to $0.35 on volume of 3.7 million shares;
- Babcock&Brown Japan Property Trust (BJT), +$0.05 (5.66%) to $0.84 on volume of 3.6 million shares;
- Stockland (SGP), +$0.24 (5.13%) to $4.92 on volume of 5.5 million shares;
- ING Office Fund (IOF), +$0.06 (4.41%) to $1.42 on volume of 5.8 million shares; and
- GPT Group (GPT), +$0.06 (3.61%) to $1.72 on volume of 8.3 million shares.
The bronze medal for today goes to Consumer Staples (XSJ), which climbed 43.4 points (0.59%) to 7414.2 points. The 11 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 27.27m units; 6 index components rose, with rising volume amounting to 20.72m shares, while the 5 decliners had volume traded totalling 6.55m units. The major percentage gainers within the index were
- Futuris Corporation Limited (FCL), +$0.10 (7.31%) to $1.40 on volume of 3 million shares;
- Goodman Fielder Limited (GFF), +$0.04 (2.76%) to $1.49 on volume of 5.9 million shares;
- Foster's Group Limited (FGL), +$0.09 (1.7%) to $5.39 on volume of 9.4 million shares;
- Wesfarmers Limited (WES), +$0.47 (1.34%) to $35.47 on volume of 1.2 million shares; and
- ABB Grain Limited (ABB), +$0.10 (1.25%) to $8.10 on volume of 341 thousand shares.
The worst-performed index for the session was Information Technology (XIJ), which dipped 13.5 points (2.62%) to 500.8 points. As is normally the case for this index, it was all down to the stock that massively dominate the index by market cap...
- Computershare Limited (CPU), -$0.27 (2.98%) to $8.78 on volume of 2.2 million shares.
Just missing out on the wooden spoon was Materials (XMJ), which slid 213.1 points (1.61%) to 13046.8 points. The 42 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 111.57m units; The 33 decliners had volume traded totalling 85.39m units, and 8 index components rose, with rising volume amounting to 22.82m shares, The major percentage decliners within the index were
- Gunns Limited (GNS), -$0.16 (6.93%) to $2.15 on volume of 2 million shares;
- Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation (CXC), -$0.15 (6.7%) to $2.09 on volume of 223.3 thousand shares;
- St Barbara Limited (SBM), -$0.02 (6.67%) to $0.21 on volume of 9.7 million shares;
- Perilya Limited (PEM), -$0.03 (6.38%) to $0.44 on volume of 813.9 thousand shares; and
- Sino Gold Mining Limited (SGX), -$0.26 (5.69%) to $4.31 on volume of 900.2 thousand shares.
Third-to-last amongst the sector indices was Utilities (XUJ), which slid 83.1 points (1.53%) to 5333.8 points. Seems that today if your stock name included the words 'Brown' or 'Babcock', you were in for a bit of rougher than usual treatent.
XUJ contains 10 stocks, and today these stocks traded a total of 38.16m units. Breadth panned out as follows: 6 decliners had volume traded totalling 32.07m units, and 4 index components rose, with rising volume amounting to 6.09m shares. The major percentage decliners within the index were
- Babcock & Brown Power (BBP), -$0.06 (12.24%) to $0.43 on volume of 12.9 million shares;
- Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Group (BBI), -$0.07 (9.03%) to $0.71 on volume of 12.1 million shares;
- Babcock & Brown Wind Partners Group (BBW), -$0.13 (7.89%) to $1.46 on volume of 5.6 million shares;
- Hastings Diversified Utilities Fund (HDF), -$0.07 (2.92%) to $2.33 on volume of 192.5 thousand shares; and
- Envestra Limited (ENV), -$0.01 (0.67%) to $0.74 on volume of 632.7 thousand shares.
Sector Indices
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1504.3 | 42.1 | 2.88 | 53m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1394.3 | 34.7 | 2.55 | 107m |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 7414.2 | 43.4 | 0.59 | 27m |
| XXJ | Financials ex Property Trusts | 5030 | 26.8 | 0.54 | 70m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 4889.5 | 24.8 | 0.51 | 55m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 1643 | -11.1 | -0.67 | 85m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 8924.4 | -65 | -0.72 | 15m |
| XEJ | Energy | 16767.2 | -139.4 | -0.82 | 31m |
| XUJ | Utilities | 5333.8 | -83.1 | -1.53 | 38m |
| XMJ | Materials | 13046.8 | -213.1 | -1.61 | 112m |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 500.8 | -13.5 | -2.62 | 3m |
All Ordinaries Major Movers
All Ords Volume Leaders
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FXJ | Fairfax Media Limited | 2.77 | -0.08 | -2.81 | 54.1m |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation Limited. | 4.40 | 0.14 | 3.29 | 47.1m |
| OZL | OZ Minerals Limited | 1.80 | 0.01 | 0.28 | 13m |
| BBP | Babcock & Brown Power | 0.43 | -0.06 | -12.24 | 12.9m |
| LGL | Lihir Gold Limited | 2.24 | -0.09 | -3.86 | 12.5m |
All Ords Percentage Gainers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VBA | Virgin Blue Holdings Limited | 1.16 | 0.16 | 16.08 | 2.5m |
| ZIM | Zimplats Holdings Limited | 13.00 | 1.60 | 14.04 | 7.8k |
| SLM | Salmat Limited | 2.99 | 0.34 | 12.83 | 28.5k |
| OEX | Oilex Ltd | 0.77 | 0.09 | 12.41 | 432.3k |
| SGN | Stw Communications Group Limited | 1.17 | 0.12 | 11.43 | 906.8k |
All Ords Percentage Losers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INP | Innamincka Petroleum Limited | 0.48 | -0.20 | -29.41 | 5.6m |
| BBP | Babcock & Brown Power | 0.43 | -0.06 | -12.24 | 12.9m |
| SRV | Servcorp Limited | 3.55 | -0.45 | -11.25 | 0k |
| CMR | Compass Resources Limited | 1.02 | -0.11 | -9.73 | 1.3m |
| BNB | Babcock & Brown Limited | 4.54 | -0.46 | -9.2 | 7.8m |
