Small Stocks » ASX

ASX will be mixed this Week

SmallStocks — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 22:22:15 +0000

Given the Dows (DJI) performance last Friday, you would think that the ASX will be either down or swinging for the week. The Dow closed down 127.04 points - or 1.41% - last Friday, and so whether the ASX will follow US’s sentiment will be unclear. Last week Rio Tinto’s (RIO) announcement on the state of the Chinese market really shook up many investors and so the end of the week was pushed lower.

Today, that sentiment may continue in the market - or investors may focus on the fact the Dow Jones (DJI) ended the 5-day averaged week higher. Remember, this week in the US is “Reporting Week” - and a huge swather of companies are releasing there third quarter reporting details. This will really start to show the true depth of the financial crisis and let us know how things are going.

Stay tuned for a wild week I think.

ASX Drops 1%, No Wall St Improvement

SmallStocks — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 06:11:19 +0000

The All Ords (AORD) was down 43.3 points today, or approximately 1% as the Dow Jones late recovery failed to invoke any positive sentiment on the Aussie Market. The S&P200 (AXJO) was also down around the same, falling 42.6 points to 3,970.80 or roughly 1% as well.

It seems despite my prediction yesterday that mining stocks may improve on the back of Dow Jones if some commodity increases are seen was wrong - at least in Australia where the sector fell. I think the news coming out of the third quarter RIO (RIO) report on China production was too much for the local market to bear, with BHP (BHP) again falling another 4.68% to $24.59 and RIO (RIO) falling another 5.13% to close around $62.62 - a level not seen since December 2005. Resources were hit much harder than I expected given the rise in the US overnight - but this may be because Australian Mining Stocks inherently have a bigger exposure to China in respect of Commodities.

Most other sectors were lower with the major banks all posting downward stock movements. NAB (NAB) lost 4.84% to finish at $21.60, CBA (CBA) was done to $41.41, or 2.3%, Westpac (WBC) fell 2.36% to $21.48 and ANZ (ANZ) was at $16.85 - a 2.76% decrease. Of note, Babcock & Brown were 5.2% higher to finish at $1.315 although Macquarie (MCG) finished lower - down 2.14% to finish at $31.36.

Let’s see what action happens on the US overnight, with some more fundamental economic data being released on Friday in New York - the market may take another hammering. On the flip side, if oil continues to drop and an interest rate cut is announced by the US Fed - then 30 Dow constituents may push the overall market higher.

ASX Opens Higher

SmallStocks — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:14:30 +0000

Update @ 12:18: Well the opening higher was short lived. Check out the All Ords Chart (AORD) - it shows a drop straight down - not down around 11 points. Not one stock has posted “large” gains with most trading in a range of between $0.02 and $0.25.

The ASX (AORD) has opened slightly higher on open with the market rebounding from yesterdays woes. Most of the market today will be trading on the fact that oil is below the $70 USD a barrel market for the first time since 2007.

The market should see some improvement from the mining stocks on the back of the lower oil prices, and in early trading BHP (BHP) was already slightly higher. Yesterday, resource stocks were hammered due to the lower level of commodity prices and an expectation that demand from China is falling which will mean commodity prices should fall even further.

The gain maybe short lived if more data is released in the US which swings investors focus back to the core underlying fundamentals of the United States retail market and overall consumer spending statistics. On the positive, news of interests rates cuts - not only in the United States but globally - maybe coming which could spur markets up again.

Updates will continue throughout the day.

ASX Looses 286.6 points

SmallStocks — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 05:32:24 +0000

As has happened so often with the market over the last couple of weeks, the All Ords (AORD) has once again finished much lower - down 284 points to close around 3,988.1. The S&P200 (AXJO) didn’t fair much better either - it was down 6.7%, or 286.6 points to close around 4,013.4.

This was inevitable after the Dow Jones (DJI) dropped a massive 700 points overnight, as more and more data is released about the economic gloom. It seems, even today, that Ford is not immune - cutting 450 Jobs in Victoria because of poor sales and peoples increasing distaste for large vehicles which guzzle fuel. The Aussie Dollar (AUDUSD) wasn’t much better either - falling down to around 0.69 USD cents on the back of decreasing Japanese Yen (AUDJPY).

The worst performer of the day was definitely Rio Tinto (RIO), who fell at whopping $12.49 in a sell off frenzy to close 16% lower on the back of unsure news coming out of China.

ASX will be Down Today

SmallStocks — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:32:49 +0000

Have no doubt folks. The All Ords (AORD) and the S&P200 (AXJO) are going to take a hammering today. The Australian Market is definitely going to take a leaf out of the USA’s Book, with the Dow (DJO) plummeting more than 700 points - you can image the Aussie Market is going to open, at least, 100-150 points lower (if not more) when the market opens for trading this morning.

Be prepared for another roller coaster ride of a day - that is going to wipe clean all previous gains made this week.

Stocks End Down for the Day

SmallStocks — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:04:06 +0000

The All Ords (AORD) closed 39 points lower today after continued uncertainty reins about the state of USA markets and the overall global market stability. The S&P200 (AXJO) also closed 35.2 points lower to finish the day around 4,300 flat. It seems like I should just copy and paste this sentence into every post for the next few months - but unfortunately, the markets are going to continue to swing until there are clear periods of good growth and reducing economic indicators.

Of note, Rio Tinto (RIO) fell 5.19 percent today to $78.50 AUD after releasing its third quarter production report which highlighted increasing production costs. In the financial sector, NAB (NAB) fell around 1.29%, Commbank (CBA) fell around 1.79%, ANZ (ANZ) fell around 0.27% and Westpac (WBC) fell around 0.17%.

Overall, a fairly flat day on a market which is still - waiting for some type of news to get it moving again.

ASX Closes Up But Faded in Afternoon

SmallStocks — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 05:32:48 +0000

The All Ords (AORD) closed at 4,311.5, up 169.6 points at the end of trading today - but was significantly weaker in afternoon trading. All Indexes were strong except again, for Gold (GOLD), which was down again due to overall positive sharemarket movements. Most of the gainers didn’t change in the aftenoon session and were similar to early trading - with the financials and mining sectors all moving stronger after last weeks terrible losses.

There is a still a bit of work left to get the market stable, and we are by no means out of the woods yet - although the world is seemingly moving in the right direction.

Indexes

All Ords - (AORD)
S&P 200 - (AXJO)

Gainers

ASX (ASX)
CBA (CBA)
Fortescue (FMG)
Leighton Holdings (LEI)
Macqurie Group (MQG)
NAB (NAB)
Rio Tinto (RIO)

ASX Lunch Time Update

SmallStocks — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:23:38 +0000

The All Ords (AORD) is still up around 230.5 at 12:15 this afternoon. Strong gains are being seen in every single sector, except of course, gold. Top mid-day statistics below.

Gainers

ASX (ASX) is up $2.36
CBA (CBA) is up $2.09
Fortescue (FMG) is up $1.35
Leighton Holdings (LEI) is up $3.98
Macqurie Group (MQG) is up $3.94
NAB (NAB) is up $2.09
Rio Tinto (RIO) is up $5.09

Aussie Stocks Surge

SmallStocks — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:24:21 +0000

The All Ordinaries Index (AORD) has surged up 235.9 points on opening to record what is going to be an absolute bumper day. There are immediate gains across the board with the only Index sector that is down being the All Ordinaries Gold sub-index - a factor of Small Stocks 5 Point Market Indicator.

Indexes

All Ords - (AORD)
S&P 200 - (AXJO)

Market Declines in Afternoon Session

SmallStocks — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 02:14:49 +0000

The Stock Market has started a rapid decline from earlier posted gains as can be seen from the chart on (AORD). The market opened very strongly but has since started a rapid retreat, although most sectors are still up slightly. There seems to be renewed confidence in most financial stocks given the Governments Guarantee announcement and all the major financial companies are trading positively.There is also renewed interest in Mining companies that took big hits last Friday.

Macquarie Bank (MQG) is up, as is Commonwealth Bank (CBA), Westpac (WBC), ANZ (ANZ) and the NAB (NAB). Other climbers include Leighton Holdings (LEI) and Rio Tinito (RIO).