Australian Stock Market Report – Midday January 2, 2015

An office worker talks on his phone as he looks the stock board at the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) building in central Sydney June 15, 2012. Asian shares edged up on Friday, and the euro held most of the previous session's gains, as nervous investors took comfort from plans for coordinated action by major central banks to stabilise markets if Sunday's election in Greece results in turmoil. Reuters

Sluggish start to 2015 for the ASX 200.

For the first day of trading for 2015 we saw the Australian market opened slightly weaker off 12points before coming back to be only down 5points by 10.30am ESDT.

Looking back at the ASX 200 over 2014 the index rose by just 1.1% after being up 5.7% in September as weakness in the resources sector restrained the market late in the year. European and US markets were closed for the New Year's holiday overnight. But New Year's Eve trading saw Euro markets closed mixed with the London FTSE up 19points and the US market end weaker.

The last day of trading for the 2014 on Wall Street was hit by book squaring for end of the 2014 tax year and once again weakness in oil prices.

Over 2014 the DOW JONES closed higher for the sixth straight year, up 7.5%. The broader S&P 500 rose for the third straight year, up 11.4% and the NASDAQ up 14% in 2014 for the third year in a row.

Early today the falls in commodity stocks after yesterday's weaker than expected Chinese manufacturing data held the market into the red. The Chinese PMI data was at the lowest level since June 2013 easing from 50.3 to 50.1 in December 2014. By lunch the ASX 200 was up 0.8 points or 0.09% helped by a lift in commodity prices out of Asia and gins in the industrial sector. Toll road operator Transurban Group (TCL) saw its share price rise over 1.5% in early trade after going ex-dividend on Wednesday and on the back of expectations for strong summer traffic here in Australia over the Christmas and New Year's break. One of Australia's largest catering and service firms Spotless Group Holdings Limited (SPO) also higher, up 1.7%, on expectations for a solid Christmas season.

The banking sector is still in the red with the big 4 banks either down or only up a few cents. National Australia Bank Limited (NAB) hit the hardest down 0.6% while property stocks helped limit loses in the broader finance sector with most stocks in the sector moving higher.

The US$ Gold falls over 1.5% in 2014 after hitting a high of $1,389 a barrel Mid- Year verses a low of US$1,132 an ounce. The US$ gold price lifted from Wednesday night's lows in the US in early trade to US$1,187 up US$3 an ounce. US dollar crude-oil prices fell over 46% over the 2014 year from a high of US$101.33 a barrel to a low of US$52.36 a barrel on Wednesday night in the US. This morning the US$ oil price rebounded and is current up nearly 2% to US$54.27 a barrel.

The CoreLogic RP Data Australian home price index was realised it showed a 0.9% increase in December 2014, after falling by 0.3% in November. The Annual growth for Australian home prices is now at a 14 month low of 7.9%.

The Australian dollar slightly weaker in light trade now at US$0.8172

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