Australian Stocks: What Happened Today?

Array
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    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => ((WDC))
            [1] => ((LYC))
            [2] => ((AGK))
            [3] => ((ISU))
            [4] => ((BBG))
            [5] => ((SLR))
            [6] => ((EHL))
            [7] => ((KCN))
            [8] => ((DML))
            [9] => ((TEN))
            [10] => ((CDU))
            [11] => ((SIR))
            [12] => ((BRG))
            [13] => ((MQG))
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [0] => WDC
            [1] => LYC
            [2] => AGK
            [3] => ISU
            [4] => BBG
            [5] => SLR
            [6] => EHL
            [7] => KCN
            [8] => DML
            [9] => TEN
            [10] => CDU
            [11] => SIR
            [12] => BRG
            [13] => MQG
        )

)

This story features LYNAS RARE EARTHS LIMITED, and other companies.
For more info SHARE ANALYSIS: LYC
The company is included in ASX50, ASX100, ASX200, ASX300 and ALL-ORDS

By Stephen Hogan, Senior Private Client Adviser, Equities/Derivatives

Australian Market

The Australian market (XJO) closed up 28.4 points or 0.54% to 5248.0 today. The market has hit another five year high of 5265.0 in early in the morning on the back of news that hawkish candidate Larry Summers has dropped out of the race to succeed Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, the action died out in the afternoon, levelling out into the close. On Friday the U.S. has their best week since January with the Dow rising 0.49% and the S&P 500 gained 0.27%. The best performing sector was Gold followed by Energy, gaining 3.31% and 0.83%, while the worst sector was Utilities, falling -0.83%.

In economic news, The RP Data-Rismark Daily Home Value Index for the five mainland state capitals rose by 0.5% in the week ending Sunday, September 15. This figure brought the annual rise in housing prices, which bottomed out in mid-2012, to 5.7%. Aside from Perth, who fell 0.2%, the other four capitals in the index posted rises last week, Sydney gained the most with 0.8% for the week and 8.0% for the year. Adelaide was the weakest annual increase of just 0.1% and Perth had the biggest annual rise, 8.8%. The weekly auction clearance rate for the combined capitals was 74.6%, down only marginally from the week before which was the strongest result since late 2010. The market has been underpinned by a rise in demand relative to supply, with the number of homes on the market down by 14.1% from a year before, led by a 28.6% fall in Sydney.

Westfield Group ((WDC)) is set to make a U.S. 1.64 billion sale, entering into an agreement to divest 7 shopping centres to U.S. Starwood Capital Group.  WDC will retain a 10% interest in the shopping centres, which will be managed by Starwood. WDC CEP Peter Lowry said in a statement to the ASX, "Today's announcement continues the implementation of our strategic plan which positions WDC to generate greater shareholder value." WDC plans to redeploy capital to superior retail destinations.

Lynas Corporation Limited ((LYC)) has widened its full year loss to $107.4 million, associated in part with costs around the commissioning of its rare earths processing plant in Malaysia. LYC has set itself the goal of becoming one of the world's leading rare earths suppliers, after obtaining its first rare earths products pay cheque before the end of the fiscal year for a modest $900,000.

AGL Energy Limited ((AGK))'s board has incorporated an appointed an interim chief executive along with three new directors to the Australian Power and Gas Company (APG) as part of its takeover. APG chief executive James Myatt has been said to have left the company and chief financial officer Warren Kember has been appointed interim CEO. AGK acquired an 81% stake in APG and has announced a 52c a share on market offer for remaining shares.

iSelect Limited ((ISU)) has reportedly been ordered by ASIC to hand over internal documents as part of a compliance investigation. According to various media reports, ASIC has demanded all records relating to iSelect's profit announcement in late august, including financials, emails and meeting minutes. The company says it remains of the view that it fully complied with all regulatory obligations and ASIC's request shouldn't be viewed as an indication of any breach.

AUD is currently trading at $0.9232, up $0.0093 against the USD.

Top Performers

Billabong International Limited ((BBG)) up $0.03 or 6.98% to $0.46

Silver Lake Resources Limited ((SLR)) up $0.05 or 6.62% to $0.805

Emeco Holdings Limited ((EHL)) up $0.015 or 6.25% to $0.255

Lynas Corporation Limited (LYC) up $0.025 or 6.17% to $0.43

Kingsgate Consolidated Limited ((KCN)) up $0.095 or 5.60% to $1.79

Bottom Performers

Discovery Metals Limited ((DML)) down -$0.015 or -11.54% to $0.115

Ten Network Holdings Limited ((TEN)) down -$0.015 or -4.48% to $0.32

Cudeco Limited ((CDU)) down -$0.08 or -3.83% to $2.01

Sirius Resources NL ((SIR)) down -$0.11 or -3.67% to $2.89

Breville Group Limited ((BRG)) down -$0.29 or -3.27% to $8.57

Our Comments

The market ended higher than expected but has drawn back to the previous high again. As mentioned before this is a psychological level and may take a few sessions to push away from it. It looks like the U.S. could rally tonight on the Larry Summers backing out news, now Fed vice-chair Janet Yellen is said to be the leading candidate to replace Chairman Ben Bernanke. Although the FOMC September meeting starts on Tuesday, so a bigger rally could hold off until the result of the meeting on Wednesday (Thursday for us).

Macquarie ((MQG)) had another good day and should go higher; it is looking ready to break through the $50 mark.

(For a more comprehensive summary of last night’s market action see FNArena’s Overnight Report.)
 

Re-published with permission. Views expressed are not by association FNArena's (see our disclaimer).

Stephen Hogan is an Authorised Representative of Novus Capital. Authorised Representative No.345411 – http://www.stephenhogan.com.au

Novus Capital Limited ("Novus") is holder of Australian Financial Services Licence No 238 168. Novus, its directors, officers, associates and employees each declare that they, from time to time, may hold interests in financial products and/or earn brokerage, commission, fees or other benefits from financial products mentioned in this e-mail or attached documents. Unless specifically stated within this e-mail or an attached document, any information communicated by this e-mail constitutes unsolicited general financial product advice which has been compiled without regard to any investor's individual objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not specific advice for any particular investor. Before making any decision about the information provided, you need to consider the appropriateness of this information having regard to your individual objectives, financial situation and needs and consult your adviser. Any indicative information and assumptions used here are summarised and also may change without notice to you, particularly if based on past performance or relate to a future matter.

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