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The intraday reversal after the opening weakness shows a touching faith on the part of Strayan punters. It is a faith not unlike the faith that led generations of peasants to fork over vast wodges of their hard-earned in order to build cathedrals - perhaps the greatest waste of resources since the construction of the Pyramids.
We are in a period not unlike that which prevailed during that great medieval money furnace. Sure, the period resulted in some grand edifices, but those edifices did not spring up as a result of market forces: like all churches and palaces, they represent the fruits of a coercive system and their construction was an untrammeled evil which took bread from the mouths of the poor in order to make some dickwad feel like he had the most gilded dining hall.
The market is in the process of taking a large amount of congealed labour and giving it to a very corrupt, very concentrated slice of your overlords so that they can build edifices to themselves; any faith in such a system is a faith that is utterly misplaced.
Think about the poor faithful who dove into XXJ stocks in mid-July; the index had dropped from 6050-ish to under 5000 in about two months. From there, it rocketed to 5430 in 7 sessions - and as usual, most of the volume in the move upwards happened in the final two sessions as punters found renewed faith in those who mismanaged the financial sector to begin with.
From there, every single point of the advance - plus a few more for good measure - was lost in just three trading days. So unless they were highly nimble traders, anybody who bought a bank or insurance stock in early July is under water right now.
Major Market Indices
The broad market - the All Ordinaries (XAO) - advanced modestly, rising 7.6 points (0.15%), finishing at 5037.6 points. The index hit an intraday high of 5040.9 at 2:36 pm, while the low for the day was 4964.8 - set at 10:19 am Sydney time.
Total volume traded on the ASX was pretty feeble at 1.06bn units, 12.7% below its 10-day average. The ASX's daily listing of all stocks included 1290 different 3-letter FPO's which traded (i.e., had non-zero trade volume). Of these, 479 issues rose, with volume in rising issues totalling 590.1m units; decliners numbered 507, and between them they traded aggregate declining volume of 345.6m shares.
Of the 493 All Ordinaries components, 203 rose while 206 fell. Volume was tilted in favour of the gainers by a margin of 1.7:1, with 459.31m shares traded in gainers while 266.38m 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) - posted a modest rise of 2.9 points (0.06%), closing out the session at 4986.2 points.
| Name | Close | +/-(%) |
|---|---|---|
| All Ordinaries | 5037.60 | 7.60 (0.2%) |
| ASX 20 | 2823.50 | -8.60 (0.3%) |
| ASX 50 | 4896.50 | -2.80 (0.1%) |
| ASX 100 | 4041.60 | 0.00 (0.0%) |
| ASX 200 | 4986.20 | 2.90 (0.1%) |
| ASX 300 | 4978.50 | 3.60 (0.1%) |
| ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 4860.30 | 17.40 (0.4%) |
| ASX Small Ordinaries | 2832.00 | 20.10 (0.7%) |
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders (XTL) - slid modestly, falling 8.6 points (0.3%), closing out the session at 2823.5 points.
Among the 20 big guns, 8 index components finished to the upside, and of the rest, 12 closed lower for the session. The 20 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 112.92m units; 8 index components rose, with rising volume amounting to 59.54m shares, while the 12 decliners had volume traded totalling 53.38m units. The major percentage gainers within the index were
- Macquarie Group (MQG), +$1.71 (3.32%) to $53.19 on volume of 1.5 million shares;
- CSL Limited (CSL), +$1.15 (3.26%) to $36.45 on volume of 1.3 million shares;
- Stockland (SGP), +$0.10 (2.04%) to $4.99 on volume of 5.9 million shares;
- Woodside Petroleum (WPL), +$0.60 (1.17%) to $51.80 on volume of 1.2 million shares; and
- Telstra Corporation (TLS), +$0.05 (1.11%) to $4.55 on volume of 34.9 million shares.
On the less salubrious side of the big-cap fence, the following stocks were the worst-performed within the index:
- Suncorp-Metway (SUN), -$0.49 (4.14%) to $11.36 on volume of 3.8 million shares;
- ANZ Banking Group (ANZ), -$0.56 (3.11%) to $17.43 on volume of 9.6 million shares;
- National Australia Bank (NAB), -$0.7 (2.72%) to $25.07 on volume of 6.5 million shares;
- Westfield Group (WDC), -$0.34 (2.01%) to $16.61 on volume of 4.7 million shares; and
- Woolworths Limited (WOW), -$0.45 (1.67%) to $26.45 on volume of 1.7 million shares.
At the other end of the market-cap spectrum lie the denizens of the ASX Small Ordinaries (XSO). The Small Ords advanced today by under a percent, adding 20.1 points (0.71%), closing out the session at 2832 points.
The 195 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 262.76m units: volume in the 93 gainers totalled 177.68m shares, and 69.99m units traded in the index's 83 declining components. The major percentage gainers within the index were- Panoramic Resources (PAN), +$0.28 (13.86%) to $2.30 on volume of 2.5 million shares;
- Great Southern (GTP), +$0.08 (10.6%) to $0.84 on volume of 535.9 thousand shares;
- Minara Resources (MRE), +$0.16 (10.4%) to $1.65 on volume of 4.5 million shares;
- Record Realty (RRT), +$0.01 (10%) to $0.06 on volume of 89.5 thousand shares; and
- CBH Resources (CBH), +$0.01 (8.7%) to $0.13 on volume of 4.1 million shares.
In the red-zone of the little-stock index, the following list represents the biggest downers (in terms of percentage decline):
- Rubicon America Trust (RAT), -$0.01 (10%) to $0.08 on volume of 1.2 million shares;
- Aspen Group (APZ), -$0.13 (9.62%) to $1.18 on volume of 488.6 thousand shares;
- Challenger Diversified Property Group (CDI), -$0.05 (8.06%) to $0.57 on volume of 419 thousand shares;
- Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (API), -$0.05 (6.25%) to $0.75 on volume of 85.4 thousand shares; and
- ING Real Estate Community Living Group (ILF), -$0.03 (6.17%) to $0.38 on volume of 589.1 thousand shares.
Index Changes
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 5037.6 | 7.6 | 0.15 | 754.5m |
| XFL | ASX 50 | 4896.5 | -2.8 | -0.06 | 259.1m |
| XJO | ASX 200 | 4986.2 | 2.9 | 0.06 | 634.1m |
| XKO | ASX 300 | 4978.5 | 3.6 | 0.07 | 706.5m |
| XMD | ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 4860.3 | 17.4 | 0.36 | 184.7m |
| XSO | ASX Small Ordinaries | 2832 | 20.1 | 0.71 | 262.8m |
| XTL | ASX 20 | 2823.5 | -8.6 | -0.3 | 112.9m |
| XTO | ASX 100 | 4041.6 | 0 | 0 | 443.8m |
Market Breadth
| ASX20 | XTO | XJO | XAO | XSO | Market | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advances | 8 | 51 | 96 | 203 | 93 | 479 |
| Declines | 12 | 48 | 91 | 206 | 83 | 507 |
| Advancing Volume | 59.5m | 253.7m | 387.4m | 459.3m | 177.7m | 590.1m |
| Declining Volume | 53.4m | 182.2m | 225.6m | 266.4m | 70m | 345.6m |
GICS Industry Indices
Among the 11 industry indices, 7 registered an advance for the session, and 4 lost ground.
The best performing index was Information Technology (XIJ), which added 11.4 points (2.14%) to 544.1 points. As usual the direction of the index was determined by CPU, and today CPU rose ...
- Computershare Limited (CPU), +$0.26 (2.77%) to $9.66 on volume of 1.6 million shares.
Second in the index leadership stakes was Healthcare (XHJ), which gained 174.7 points (2.05%) to 8700.2 points. The 8 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 8.23m units; 4 index components rose, with rising volume amounting to 5.37m shares, while the 3 decliners had volume traded totalling 2.25m units. The major percentage gainers within the index were
- ResMed Inc. (RMD), +$0.16 (3.38%) to $4.90 on volume of 3.4 million shares;
- CSL Limited (CSL), +$1.15 (3.26%) to $36.45 on volume of 1.3 million shares;
- Ramsay Health Care Limited (RHC), +$0.28 (2.9%) to $9.92 on volume of 268.9 thousand shares; and
- Cochlear Limited (COH), +$0.77 (1.71%) to $45.93 on volume of 343.3 thousand shares.
The bronze medal for today goes to Energy (XEJ), which climbed 273.1 points (1.68%) to 16483.4 points. The 17 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 37.43m units; 13 index components rose, with rising volume amounting to 31.55m shares, while the 2 decliners had volume traded totalling 4.17m units. The major percentage gainers within the index were
- Australian Worldwide Exploration (AWE), +$0.21 (6.73%) to $3.33 on volume of 3 million shares;
- Centennial Coal Company (CEY), +$0.27 (6.19%) to $4.63 on volume of 1.5 million shares;
- Arrow Energy (AOE), +$0.14 (5.02%) to $2.93 on volume of 7.3 million shares;
- Oil Search (OSH), +$0.21 (4.18%) to $5.23 on volume of 3.5 million shares; and
- Santos (STO), +$0.64 (3.84%) to $17.31 on volume of 1.6 million shares.
The worst-performed index for the session was Property Trusts (XPJ), which dipped 12.5 points (0.88%) to 1406.2 points. The 21 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 100.36m units; The 14 decliners had volume traded totalling 59.39m units, and 6 index components rose, with rising volume amounting to 35.2m shares, The major percentage decliners within the index were
- Centro Retail (CER), -$0.02 (5.56%) to $0.34 on volume of 1.3 million shares;
- Babcock&Brown Japan Property Trust (BJT), -$0.04 (5.06%) to $0.75 on volume of 821.3 thousand shares;
- GPT Group (GPT), -$0.08 (4.2%) to $1.71 on volume of 14.1 million shares;
- Centro Properties Group (CNP), -$0.01 (4%) to $0.24 on volume of 5.6 million shares; and
- Macquarie Countrywide Trust (MCW), -$0.03 (3%) to $0.97 on volume of 3.9 million shares.
Just missing out on the wooden spoon was Financials ex Property Trusts (XXJ), which slid 44.5 points (0.87%) to 5042.2 points. The 30 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 121.72m units; The 16 decliners had volume traded totalling 44m units, and 11 index components rose, with rising volume amounting to 74.82m shares, The major percentage decliners within the index were
- Sunland Group (SDG), -$0.13 (5.56%) to $2.21 on volume of 389.6 thousand shares;
- Suncorp-Metway (SUN), -$0.49 (4.14%) to $11.36 on volume of 3.8 million shares;
- Bank Of Queensland (BOQ), -$0.5 (3.37%) to $14.35 on volume of 321.9 thousand shares;
- ANZ Banking Group (ANZ), -$0.56 (3.11%) to $17.43 on volume of 9.6 million shares; and
- National Australia Bank (NAB), -$0.7 (2.72%) to $25.07 on volume of 6.5 million shares.
Third-to-last amongst the sector indices was Consumer Discretionary (XDJ), which slid 10.2 points (0.63%) to 1614 points. The 25 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 58m units; The 13 decliners had volume traded totalling 24.2m units, and 12 index components rose, with rising volume amounting to 33.8m shares, The major percentage decliners within the index were
- West Australian Newspapers Holdings (WAN), -$0.4 (4.65%) to $8.20 on volume of 404.5 thousand shares;
- APN News & Media (APN), -$0.13 (3.85%) to $3.25 on volume of 933.3 thousand shares;
- Seven Network (SEV), -$0.3 (3.63%) to $7.96 on volume of 372.6 thousand shares;
- Tabcorp Holdings (TAH), -$0.27 (2.94%) to $8.90 on volume of 5.5 million shares; and
- David Jones (DJS), -$0.1 (2.7%) to $3.61 on volume of 1.8 million shares.
Sector Indices
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XIJ | Information Technology | 544.1 | 11.4 | 2.14 | 2m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 8700.2 | 174.7 | 2.05 | 8m |
| XEJ | Energy | 16483.4 | 273.1 | 1.68 | 37m |
| XUJ | Utilities | 5444.8 | 60.1 | 1.12 | 16m |
| XMJ | Materials | 13124 | 104.7 | 0.8 | 130m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 4925.6 | 12.4 | 0.25 | 94m |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1550 | 1.2 | 0.08 | 44m |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 7288.2 | -44.2 | -0.6 | 23m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 1614 | -10.2 | -0.63 | 58m |
| XXJ | Financials ex Property Trusts | 5042.2 | -44.5 | -0.87 | 122m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1406.2 | -12.5 | -0.88 | 100m |
All Ordinaries Major Movers
All Ords Volume Leaders
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TAL | Tower Australia Group Limited | 2.95 | 0.16 | 5.73 | 51.7m |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation Limited. | 4.55 | 0.05 | 1.11 | 34.9m |
| OZL | OZ Minerals Limited | 1.83 | 0.07 | 3.69 | 25.6m |
| TTS | Tatts Group Limited | 2.47 | 0.02 | 0.82 | 20.7m |
| CEU | Connecteast Group | 0.87 | 0.02 | 2.35 | 16.8m |
All Ords Percentage Gainers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MOL | Moly Mines Limited | 2.47 | 0.47 | 23.5 | 142.9k |
| AQA | Aquila Resources Limited | 13.24 | 1.84 | 16.14 | 601.5k |
| CKT | Challenger Kenedix Japan Trust | 0.90 | 0.12 | 14.74 | 2.7k |
| PAN | Panoramic Resources Limited | 2.30 | 0.28 | 13.86 | 2.5m |
| GTP | Great Southern Limited | 0.84 | 0.08 | 10.6 | 535.9k |
All Ords Percentage Losers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HLG | Hedley Leisure and Gaming Property Fund | 0.55 | -0.09 | -14.06 | 254k |
| PMV | Premier Investments Limited | 5.99 | -0.93 | -13.44 | 14.5k |
| RAT | Rubicon America Trust | 0.08 | -0.01 | -10 | 1.2m |
| APZ | Aspen Group | 1.18 | -0.13 | -9.62 | 488.6k |
| AXM | Apex Minerals NL | 0.40 | -0.04 | -9.09 | 564.5k |
