ASX 200 Bounces to Open the Week

• Financials lead the way on Monday.
• Commodity stocks are a bit soft.
• China remains in the forefront of thought.

In the early hours of the Monday session, the ASX 200 initially pulled back just a bit, but there are some technical barriers underneath to continue to attract traders. Ultimately, the ASX 200 will be watching the commodity markets quite closely, and of course the idea of stimulus coming out of China, as China is Australia’s largest trading partnera. For what it is worth, it seems like the financial sector was the big winner for the session.

Previously, we had seen a bit of selling pressure, as the market dropped a few percent over the last two weeks. With this, it appears that value hunters have returned to the ASX 200, taking advantage of the pullback in order to perhaps pad some of their accounts heading into the new years. Ultimately, the Australian index has been strong most of the year, and every time we saw a pullback, it seems as if there is somebody to pick it up below.

ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ANZ)

ANZ Group Holdings gained 0.21% for the session on Monday, to close at the AU$29.19 level. The financial behemoth has had a positive year, gaining 14.29%, but over the last 30 days has seen quite a bit of selling pressure, dropping 10.05%! That being said, it looks as if there’s some interest near the AU$29 level, and it should be noted that despite the fact that we have seen the market bounce over the last couple of days, there is still the 200 Day EMA above to pay close attention to from the technical analysis standpoint.

National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB)

National Australia Bank rallied 19c on Monday to close at AU$37.64. Over the last 30 days, NAB has lost 4.03%, but considering that the 12 month return has been 24.72%, it does make a certain amount of sense that we’ve seen a pullback. For technical traders, it’ll be worth noting that the market has bounced from an uptrend line going back to the beginning of the year. NAB has recently sold off its stake in MLC Life Insurance, and traders seem to be happy with the idea of shaking off that responsibility.

Suncorp Group Ltd (SUN)

Suncorp Group found itself positive at the end of the session, gaining 84c, as the stock closed at AU$19.28, going positive for the last 30 days by 16cs, erasing what had been a fairly nasty selloff. That being said, over the last year it is up 40.63%, so it’s obviously a stock that has seen a lot of momentum. It is worth noting that on Monday, SUN lost a significant amount of the initial gains, but it does look like it’s in the midst of trying to find some type of support near the 50 Day EMA, and the AU$19 region. To the upside, the market continues to see the AU$20 level as being a bit of a ceiling.

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