Australian Stock Market Report – Afternoon 9/17/13

EVENING REPORT
(5pm AEST)

Local shares edged higher today, to make it seven wins in eight trading sessions. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) improved by a modest 0.1 per cent, hitting a fresh five-year high. The ASX200 index has now closed above 5200pts for six trading sessions (June 2008 was the last time this happened).

Investors were somewhat cautious however ahead of the key event of the week: the US central bank's two day meeting which kicks off tonight. The Federal Reserve is expected to make a decision on its tapering activities, which will be announced early Thursday morning at around 4am (AEST). The current US$85 billion worth of stimulus is expected to be reduced by around US$10 billion per month for now.

Today was the busiest day of an otherwise quiet week for Australian economic news. The Reserve Bank September board meeting minutes were out this morning. The minutes confirmed that the RBA is in wait and see mode. The central bank is keen to see how the economy performs post federal election together with giving previous rate cuts a chance to filter through completely to the economy.

The 12 sectors of the market ended mixed today, with strong improvements from the major banks lifting stocks higher. Three of the four majors rose by between 1-1.7 per cent. The miners struggled after an impressive run over the past week. Gold producer Newcrest Mining (NCM) slumped by 2.3 per cent after surging by 5.1 per cent on Monday.

Internet Service Provider, Tpg Telecom (TPM) jumped by 14.3 per cent following a 64 per cent improvement in annual profit to $149.2 million. 76,000 new broadband customers were added over the year while 130,000 took up TPG bundle plans. TPM is up 63 per cent since January.

Today was the only day this week that was not riddled with public holidays across the region. The South Korean Chuseok celebrations kick off on Wednesday and will result in market closures through to Friday. The Chinese sharemarkets will be closed on Thursday and Friday.

The withdrawal of hawkish (not keen on stimulus) former treasury secretary Larry Summers from the Fed leadership race has pushed the greenback lower and the Australian dollar to US93.2c.

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