The Australia 200 Index has spent the last week consolidating and trading in a very narrow range right around 5620 after enjoying a strong surge higher to a new six year high around 5650 a couple of weeks ago. In moving up to the multi-year high it enjoyed a solid move higher bouncing strongly off the support level at 5400. Just prior to the surge it fell sharply over a couple of weeks returning back to more familiar territory between the 5400 and 5500 levels, before the recent strong rally. In its recent fall it moved down to a three week low around 5375, however it received solid support at the 5400 level which has allowed to consolidate and rally higher. The solid move higher throughout July saw it move strongly up through both the 5500 and 5550 levels to reach a new six year high around 5620. In recent weeks it has discovered a new key level to deal with after running into a short term resistance level at 5550, which earlier last week provided some solid support. It reversed strongly several weeks ago bringing it back down to almost touch the 5400 level before rallying back higher again. At the beginning of June the Australian 200 Index fell and broke back down through the key 5500 level towards a four week low around 5400 before consolidating and resting on support there for an extended period.
The 5400 and 5500 levels have firmly established themselves as significant and any substantial break to either side will most likely be a significant move and be closely monitored. It is quite likely many are sitting on the sidelines waiting for the break before committing as they continue to watch the index move between these two levels. Back at the end of May, it moved back and forth between the two key levels of 5500 and 5550 before the recent fall. Over the last couple of months the Australia 200 Index has formed an amazing attraction to the key 5500 level as it spent a considerable amount of time trading around it. A couple of weeks ago, the index fell away heavily back down to support around 5400 before returning to the key 5500 level just as quickly, as if gravity had pulled it back. Throughout the last couple of months it has been placing ongoing pressure on the resistance level at 5500 and a few weeks ago it was finally able to move through to a three week high before easing back again to this key level. Several weeks ago it slowly but surely eased away from its multi-year high achieved near 5560 however the following week it fell reasonably sharply and started looking towards the 5400 level which is near where it currently sits. In doing so it returned to back under the key 5500 level which has provided some reasonable resistance over the last few months.
For the bulk of the last few months, the Australia 200 Index has traded roughly between 5300 and 5500 therefore its return to back under 5500 was not surprising. The index has done well over the last couple of months to move steadily higher from support around 5300 up to beyond 5500, forming higher peaks and higher troughs along the way. The support level at 5300 may also be called upon should the index fall lower and will also likely play a role in providing some buffer from any decline. Since February, most of the trading activity has occurred between 5400 and 5500 therefore the former level may also be called upon to prop up prices. The index has done very well over the last couple of years moving from below 4000 to its present trading levels around 5500.
Housing prices in Australia have posted their strongest winter gain in seven years, according to a widely-watched gauge. The RP Data CoreLogic Hedonic home value index of Australian capital city dwelling prices rose by 1.1 per cent in August, RP data said on Monday. The rise brought the total gain over the June, July and August to 4.2 per cent, the biggest rise over the winter months since 2007. Annual growth in prices came in at 10.9 per cent, more than double the gain of the 12 months to August 2013, but the gains were not evenly spread across the country. RP Data research director Tim Lawless said Sydney and Melbourne are driving a two tier market. The RP Data figures show Sydney home prices rose by 16.1 per cent in the past year, while Melbourne's were up by 11.7 per cent. The next strongest markets were Adelaide, Brisbane and Darwin, with price rises averaging between five and six per cent. At the other end of the scale was Canberra, hit by government spending cutbacks, where prices rose by only 1.4 per cent through the year. Mr Lawless said that now spring has begun there would be a rise in listings of properties for sale over the coming few months, which would be a "real test" for the market.
(Daily chart below)
Australia 200 September 1 at 00:40 GMT 5613 H: 5647 L: 5605
Australia 200 Technical
| S3 | S2 | S1 | R1 | R2 | R3 |
| 5400 | 5300 | 5000 | 5650 | --- | --- |
During the hours of the Asian trading session on Tuesday, the Australia 200 Index will be looking to see if it can maintain its recent surge and continue to push higher from its recent six year high around 5650. For most of this year the Australia 200 Index has moved well from the lower support level at 5000 up to the multi-year highs above 5500 in the last month or so.
Further levels in both directions:
• Below: 5400, 5300 and 5000.
• Above: 5650.
Economic Releases
- 23:30 (Mon) AU AIG Services PMI (Aug)
- 01:00 NZ ANZ Commodity Price (Aug)
- 01:30 AU Building approvals (Jul)
- 01:30 AU Current Account
- 01:30 AU Net Exports of GDP (Q2)
- 04:30 AU RBA - Overnight Rate
- 08:30 UK CIPS/Markit Construction PMI (Aug)
- 09:00 EU PPI (Jul)
- 13:45 US Manufacturing PMI (Aug)
- 14:00 US Construction Spending (Jul)
- 14:00 US ISM Manufacturing (Aug)