The All Ordinaries Index, otherwise known as the All Ords, was established in 1980 and is the oldest and perhaps the most internationally recognised indicators of the Australian share market. Chartists use the history of the All Ords to graph, establish and determine positive market conditions. The index code is XAO.
Have a question about the data? – FAQ
6 month, 1 year & 5 year All Ords Chart
All ASX Data is 20min Delayed (this includes Google, Yahoo etc)
Due to licensing restrictions imposed by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) – online share prices are 20 minutes delayed.
Access to “live” or “dynamic” share price data, requires an account with a Stockbroker or Financial Adviser.
Live share prices (click to refresh) – typically cost a retail investor about $10 per month.
Dynamic share prices (auto refresh) – typically cost a retail investor about $80 per month.
How does the ASX Open work?
Opening takes place at 10:00 am Sydney time and lasts for about 10 minutes.
ASX shares open in five groups, depending on the starting letter of their ASX code:
Group 1 10:00:00 am +/- 15 secs A-B, e.g. ANZ, BHP
Group 2 10:02:15 am +/- 15 secs C-F, e.g. CBA, DJS, EXT, FMG
Group 3 10:04:30 am +/- 15 secs G-M, e.g. GNC, HDF, ILU, JBH, KAR, LYC, MYR
Group 4 10:06:45 am +/- 15 secs N-R, e.g. NAB, OST, PDN, QAN, RIO
Group 5 10:09:00 am +/- 15 secs S-Z, e.g. SEK, TLS, UGL, VBA, WBC, ZIM
The opening time is randomly generated and occurs up to 15 seconds on either side of the times shown above, e.g. Group 1 may open at any time between 9:59:45 am and 10:00:15 am.
How does the ASX Close work?
Between 4:00 pm and 4:10 pm, shares go in to “match”. During the match phase – you can place, remove or amend an order, but no trade actually takes place.
Orders (both buy and sell) are ranked according to their respective price. Who ever bids the highest (for buyers) or offers the lowest (for sellers) is placed at the front of the queue. Often there is a crossover in the middle (e.g. the lowest seller might offer $1.55 and the highest buyer might bid $1.63). The area in the middle where they cross is called the “match”.
A random time is generated at 4:10 pm Sydney time, +/- 15sec. All “matching” share prices are weighted to find their mid-point, and this becomes the closing price of the share.
All trades on the close take place at the same price, regardless of what price you bid or offer.
Why do they do this?
Using a randomly generated time to open and close the ASX prevents stockbrokers and traders from manipulating the opening and closing price of a share. If all shares opened/closed at the exact same time each day, computers could be used to automatically place a trade at the precise moment a share opens/closes, thus “outwitting” human traders.
6 Month Chart
1 Year Chart
5 Year Chart
About the All Ords Index
Measured in points, the All Ords was initially created with a base value of 500, providing a relative measure of the value of the stocks therein. This meant that by comparing the All Ords of the day with the original value of 500 points, it would provide a quick snapshot of the current market conditions. If the index was at 1000 points, the value of all the stocks making up the All Ords had doubled since January 1980.
A change in the indicator’s composition was instituted in January 2000, whereby the All Ordinaries Index would be calculated using the market capitalisation of the top 500 listed companies on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), replacing the previously accepted base index. This market capitalisation is calculated by multiplying the price of the company’s shares by the number of shares currently held by the public, giving a market value of that company’s stock. These values are then assigned a ‘weight’. Once all the included stocks have been ‘weighted’, the All Ords is then calculated by adding together all the ‘weighted’ values, then dividing the sum by the total number of companies that comprise the index.
The adjustment to the calculation of the All Ordinaries Index coincided with the introduction of additional market indexes such as the Standard & Poors ASX200 Composite Index. The S&P/ASX200 is made up of 200 of the largest, most frequently traded stocks on the Australian Stock Exchange, and has slowly gained recognition as Australia’s “primary” index.
Despite the shift to the S&P/ASX 200, the All Ordinaries Index continues to be recognised as one of Australia’s leading indexes, together with the ASX 20, ASX 50 and the ASX 100.