ASX Still Consolidating Near Highs

• ASX 200 continues to consolidate near the highs.
• The underlying companies for the index look mixed.
• Global noise should continue to be an issue.

During the trading session on Wednesday, the ASX 200 initially did try to rally but gave back gains and started falling again. Quite frankly, this is not necessarily a negative sign, rather it is more or less a sign of ambivalence as the market is trying to digest a lot of the gains that we had seen recently. As a result, it does make quite a bit of sense that we have a pretty mixed list of companies to watch, as there seems to be underlying strength overall for the index itself, but as there are a lot of questions when it comes to the global economy, it does make sense that there are clear winners and losers over the last several months.

The Wednesday session has seen some of the biggest winners give back some of the gains, but at the same time these losses should be kept realistic in the scope of what they are compared to the last year or so. The market simply ran out of momentum, but almost certainly will be a market that value hunters will be looking at closely.

National Australia Bank Limited (NAB)

National Australia Bank ended up dropping 40 basis points for the trading session, and over the last month has dropped 3.12%. However, this needs to be looked at through the prism of a market that has gained 28.45% over the last year, as financials across the board have had a fairly good 12 months in Australia. Chartists will look at the region that the market is hanging about at with interest, as we are sitting just below the 50 Day EMA, and it near the crucial AU$37 level. Volume is reasonably strong, suggesting that the market is just simply going along as it has for several months, trending in a 45° channel.

Wisetech Global Limited (WTC)

Wisetech Global dropped 1.73%, as the information technology company gives back some of the massive gains that it has seen over the last 30 days. In fact, even with the losses on Wednesday, WTC still is up 13.64% over the last month, and a whopping 115.58% for the last year. Keep in mind that a lot of the time loose monetary policy tends to have more money and perhaps even more importantly, venture capital, going into the technology sector so it makes sense that WTC has done fairly well as this is the longer-term correlation.

Currently, the stock is hanging about the AU$135 level, pulling back from the AU$140 level. The market has a long way to go to reach the 50 Day EMA, which is near the AU$119.50 level and trying to catch up with what had been a massive gap higher due to the latest earnings call.

QBE Insurance Group Limited (QBE)

QBE Insurance Group gained 0.68% during the day on Wednesday, as perhaps a little bit of safety seeking through the insurance industry was promoted by equities traders. QBE is up 3.80% over the last month, and a steady and reliable 7.55% over the last year. It is worth noting that the market seems to see a lot of noise right around the AU$15.50 region, where we have recently seen a lot of volume. Market participants continue to pay attention to the AU$0.24 dividend, as it is sometimes thought of as a proxy for bonds.

Northern Star Resources Limited (NST)

Northern Star Resources gained 0.69% for the session on Wednesday, as the materials Corporation continues its run higher. It’s been rather bullish, but it’s also worth noting that it is one of the smaller materials corporations on the ASX 200, so it makes a certain amount of sense that perhaps it moves more or less on its own at times. The market for NST has risen 4.85% over the last month, and a whopping 59.36% over the last year. The first thing that is obvious is that the market has been in a gentle 45° upward channel for some time, and at this point it looks like traders continue to follow that path.

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