Posted on May 1st, 2012 
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| Equity Indices | Close | Change | mvt | mvt YTD |
| ASX 200 | 4430.50 | 33.92 | 0.8% | 9.2% |
| S&P 500 | 1397.91 | 5.45 | -0.4% | 11.2% |
| HANG SENG | 21094.21 | 352.76 | 1.7% | 14.4% |
| NIKEI 225 | 9350.95 | 169.94 | -1.8% | 10.6% |
| Equity Futures | Last | Change | mvt | mvt YTD |
| SPI 200 | 4431 | 34 | 0.8% | 10.3% |
| Emini | 1395.00 | 1.5 | 0.1% | 11.4% |
| FTSE 100 | 5704 | 11 | -0.2% | 3.0% |
Australian Market Wrap
Australian equities rallied, with the S&P/ASX 200 kicking up to its best level since August last year after the Reserve Bank cut the cash rate by 50 basis points to 3.75 percent. The index, however, failed to pull ahead of resistance at 4,450 and hence ended below session highs. Yields fell across the board, with the 10-Year hitting a record low 3.53 percent as the central bank said the rate cut was necessary to delivery appropriate and that inflation has moderated. The Australian Dollar US$1.0318 and ¥82.231 before paring downside.
High Yielders extended upside, with Telco’s – Telstra (A$3.57, +0.8%), Telecom (A$2.08, +0.5%) – and Major Banks – ANZ (A$23.99, +0.3%), CBA (A$52.85, +1.7%), National Australia Bank (A$25.21, – 0.1%), Westpac (A$22.83, +0.4%) – generally finishing on the front foot as an alternative to cash deposits. Property Trusts – Stockland (A$3.12, +0.6%), Westfield Retail Trust (A$2.77, +1.8%) – were also bid. Alesco (A$2.00, +42.9%) climbed by the most in 30 years after Duluxgroup (A$2.97, -4.2%) made a A$188 million bid for the garage door maker.
Woodside (A$36.20, +3.7%) jumped after Mitsubishi and Mitsui agreed to buy a 14.7 percent stake in its proposed Browse LNG project for A$2 billion. The Japanese companies also agreed to acquire 1.5 million tons of LNG annually from the project. AWE (A$1.83, +4.9%) rallied as two brokers upgraded their recommendation. Senex Energy (A$1.075, – 5.3%), however, declined after Queensland Gas sold 73.9 million units at A$1.02/sh. Whitehaven (A$5.18, -2.6%) completed the acquisition of Boardwalk Resources and also released its March quarterly report.
Materials tracked the market, albeit there was mixed rotation in Major Metals & Miners – BHP Billiton (A$35.97, +1.2%), Fortescue Metals (A$5.68, +0.7%), Newcrest (A$26.42, +0.5%), Rio Tinto (A$65.79, – 0.8%) – as offshore peers mostly declined. Aquarius Platinum (A$2.06, – 5.5%) declined after reporting a third-quarter loss and closed two shafts. Ramelius Resources (A$0.58, -24.7%) was also sold after saying drilling below its mine at the Wattle Dam site has been ‘unsuccessful’ in finding new minerals. Bathurst Resources (A$0.645, +0.8%) extended gains after receiving a ‘positive decision’ on the preliminary question of the relevance of effects on climate change of mining coal in New Zealand.
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