What mattered on the market today

What I’m reading today:

Reuters reports on the changes to the Indonesian ore export ban:  (VIEW LINK)

Douglas Isles from Platinum Asset Management explains how they deal with change – a constant for all investors:  (VIEW LINK)

Professor Aswath Damodaran presents a primer on the concept of connecting stories and numbers in the context of valuing a company:  (VIEW LINK)

Data (provided by FactSet)

• ASX200: (45.80) pts or (0.79%) to 5721.10
• AUDUSD: +0.0001 or +0.03% to 0.7479
• Australian 10Y govt bond yield: +3.4 bp to 2.69%
• Gold (Feb-17): +$3.70 or +0.31% to $1192.70
• High grade copper (Mar-17) ($0.01) or (0.45%) at $2.66
• WTI Crude (Jan-17): +$0.04 or +0.06% to $53.05
• Breadth on the ASX 200 was(3.2):1
• Index performance
• Month-to-date: ASX 200 0.98%
• Quarter-to-date: ASX 200 0.98%
• Year-to-date: ASX 200 0.98%

Sectors:

Materials (0.91%).

Iron ore stocks weakened slightly despite Iron ore futures holding near multi-week highs. The market has been supported by China's decision to close smaller mill that affect around 4% of the country's steel production. BHP.AU (0%), RIO.AU (1%) and FMG.AU (2%).

Precious metals stocks came under pressure amid weaker gold prices. NCM.AU +0%, RRL.AU (3%), EVN.AU (3%) and NST.AU (3%).

Industrial metals Nickel fell sharply amid reports that Indonesia would approve exports from its domestic producers which was reflected in the strong declines in WSA.AU (19%) and IGO.AU (10%).

Energy +0.43%. The major LNG producers were mixed as there was little change in the oil price. WPL.AU (0%), OSH.AU (0%), ORG.AU +3% and STO.AU (1%).

Financials (1.43%). The big four banks were all lower, following on from the sector weakness in the US overnight and despite higher bond yields. CBA.AU (1%), WBC.AU (2%), NAB.AU (1%) and ANZ.AU (2%).

Traded Higher:

• +4.5% WHC.AU (Whitehaven Coal Ltd. A$3.00, +0.13)
• +3.6% ACX.AU (Aconex Ltd. A$5.68, +0.20)
• +3.2% ORG.AU (Origin Energy A$7.15, +0.22)
• +2.8% IFN.AU (Infigen Energy Ltd. A$0.91, +0.03)
• +2.8% BKL.AU (Blackmores Ltd. A$116.12, +3.12)

Traded Lower:

• -19.2% WSA.AU (Western Areas Ltd. A$2.65, -0.63) -- Nickel; Indonesia to allow exports of nickel, bauxite - Reuters
• -10.2% IGO.AU (Independence Group NL A$4.16, -0.47) -- Nickel; Indonesia to allow exports of nickel, bauxite - Reuters
• -8.9% BAL.AU (Bellamy’s Australia Ltd. A$4.01, -0.39) -- Continuation losses following trading update; (34.1%) last 3 days
• -4.4% RSG.AU (Resolute Mining Ltd. A$1.32, -0.06)
• -3.9% SXL.AU (Southern Cross Media Group Ltd. A$1.47, -0.06)