The S&P/ASX 200 Index, after a volatile session, finished up 17 points today, its third positive day in a row, to 4119 points, arguably on the back of end of month window dressing as all the gains came in the last 20 mins of the day. The next target for the local bourse is resistance at 4150, the support level for the rebound rally throughout October and most of November before the recent capitulation:
If the market can get above this level in the short term, a rally to 4300-4400 points is feasible, following other “undollar” assets around the world. In after hours trading however, the Australian SPI futures have deteriorated and are trading at 4096 points.
The US markets were relatively weak last night with the S&P500 finishing up only 0.22% with strong intraday selling. Futures are currently pointing to a 0.5% lower open. In Europe, the markets were slightly better, rising around 0.5%, although futures are also pointing to a reversal of those gains later tonight for the UK FTSE and the German DAX markets.
Contrary to the snapback rally, the Euro (EUR/USD) remains in a downtrend, returning to support at just above 1.32, currently trading at 1.3315
The USD Index remains in an uptrend, although it has slipped slightly, sitting just below resistance at 79.1 points.
Asian markets had a bad day, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.5% at 8430 points, the Hang Seng giving back its gains, down nearly 2% to 17925 points and the Shanghai Composite currently down a whopping 3.4% or 81 points to 2331 points remaining at depressed levels.
The AUD slipped below parity against the USD, or 1.4% and is currently at 99.74 cents. WTI crude lost almost 0.4% and is now at $99.41 USD a barrel, whilst Gold was bid up slightly during the Asian session to $1723 USD an ounce. In Australian dollars however, gold is also trading at $1723 AUD an ounce.
Movers and Shakers
A very mixed day on the board of the ASX, with healthcare, REIT’s and financial sectors faring well, but IT and materials off. However, amongst the top stocks, the picture looks even more murky.
The banks were bid up to varying degrees, with ANZ up 2%, Commonwealth (CBA) steady, National Australia Bank (NAB) up 1.4% whilst Westpac (WBC) put on 0.6%
Aggregated, the financial sector (XFJ) chart looks very similar to the ASX200 at the top of the post:
Macquarie (MQG) didn’t help though and was sold off, down 0.4% remaining in a dominant long term downtrend, whilst healthcare standout Cochlear (COH) jumped over 4% on no news or reports – just a classic breakout on randomness (the best kind of trading!)
Its “twin” CSL raised 1% whilst Telstra (TLS) was flat again for the day, on very low volume (30 some million shares, vs its 5 day average of 45 million). Something to keep an eye on.
To the holes in the economy (sic), and BHP Billiton (BHP) is barely ticking over its crucial support level at $34 a share, down slightly today as buyers are thin on the ground:
Its “twin” Rio Tinto (RIO) was down almost 1% as it too finds poor support in the wider market, whilst gold miner Newcrest Mining (NCM) lost 1.3% remaining in a sideways pattern since the October falls.
Fortescue (FMG) also fell over 2%, and rounding out the ASX8, Woodside Petroleum (WPL) had another bad day losing 1.6%, confirming that it’s the banks – with record low credit growth – holding up pretty much the entire market as we wait for some direction.