Australian Stocks: What Happened Today?

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
        )

)

Iron Ore has a melt down, Copper continues to weaken yet the Aussie Dollar stands firm above 90 cents, providing plenty of interesting discussion and opportunities over the next few days.

What are traders talking about today?

•    S&P/ASX200 gained 2.3 point or +0.04% on volume of $4.3 billion, closing at 5413.8.
•    BHP, RIO, Fortescue and Arrium shares have all taken quite a hit due to the rapidly falling Iron Ore price and many traders are talking about the potential opportunity that exists at these lower levels. Fortescue (FMG:ASX) has fallen 24.9 per cent in the last 12 trading sessions.
•    Analysts are having plenty of discussion over the first Chinese bond default and the potential ramifications this can potentially have in China and the big point to note is that the Chinese officials are not stepping in to provide funding but opening the door to suggest companies will be in a position to lose money.
•    Brent Crude Oil prices continue to hover around the $107 per barrel figure and now appear firmly stuck in a wide trading range between $105 – $112.
•    Gold has been testing both the highs and lows of the recent couple of trading days, gaining no ground but not losing any either. Gold is currently trading at $1,342 per ounce as of Tuesday afternoon.
•    Spot Iron Ore prices had the biggest one day fall in over four years, which has had a significant effect on a range of blue chip Australian miners.
•    Copper also tumbled further overnight, touching just below $3.00 per pound, but managed to fight back off those lows.
•    The Aussie dollar has held up remarkably well considering the Iron Ore and Copper prices and continues to hover at and above the 90 cent mark.

Economic news

•    The NAB business confidence survey figures for February came out and showed that confidence has softened from a reading of 8 to 7, citing weak labour conditions as the main culprit.
•    The Roy Morgan Research Business confidence survey for February came out today, suggesting a drop from 131.5 in the previous month to 117.3 in this month.
•    The Bank of Japan has decided to keep rates on hold at an historic low of 0.1 per cent.
•    Many eyes will be on China’s Industrial Production numbers due out on Wednesday.

Looking over the charts

•    The Aussie 200 index is somewhat divided at the moment. We have quite a divergence in the market but not as expected. It’s more to do with the Iron Ore and Copper price plummeting, yet the Aussie Dollar is holding up. This is providing quite a deal of confusion in the market and plenty of uncertainty.
•    As a result, today’s price action saw a doji star pattern, confirming the uncertainty as traders look to digest such a wide ranging effect of recent commodity moves with the likes of BHP, RIO and Fortescue, falling dramatically.
•    Fortunately for bullish traders we note that the 5400 level has held up, albeit upon shaky legs, and the moves over the next couple of days, with Chinese Industrial Production numbers due on Wednesday, being a critical news item to watch for short term traders.
•    Divergence on the chart is still looming with the recent equal high being met with the stochastic falling in value. Although not an overly strong signal, this divergence pattern will be one to watch with very keen interest.

ASX top 200 stock analysis

24% of stocks are showing oversold levels, 28% are showing overbought levels and 63% of stocks are currently above their long term moving average as of close of trading today. View the image below to better understand overbought and oversold levels.

S&P/ASX 200 Gainers and Losers

Top 5 gainers:
•    RRL    REGIS RESOURCES +2.82%
•    AAD    ARDENT LEISURE GROUP +2.47%
•    WDC    WESTFIELD GROUP +2.35%
•    BWP    BWP TRUST +2.16%
•    QBE    QBE INSURANCE GROUP +1.98%
Top 5 Losers:
•    LYC    LYNAS CORPORATION -8.47%
•    EWC    ENERGY WORLD CORPORATION -8.06%
•    ASL    AUSDRILL -5.38%
•    TSE    TRANSFIELD SERVICES -5.29%
•    SKE    SKILLED GROUP -5.08%