S&P 500was up by 13.06 points or 0.70% to 1852.56 on Wednesday. U.S. stocks fell, erasing gains that sent the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to within three points of a record, on concern the situation in Ukraine may escalate after President Barack Obama said the international order is being tested.

Investors around the world have been waiting to see what kind of reaction the United States and the EU would really take regarding Russia’s annexation of Crimea beyond sanctions. The United States and the European Union agreed on Wednesday to work together to prepare possible tougher economic sanctions in response to Russia's behaviour in Ukraine, including on the energy sector, and to make Europe less dependent on Russian gas.


S&P 500 Daily Chart   (Source – Thomson Reuters)
 
S&P ASX 200was up 40.2 points or 0.75% and closed at 5376.80 points on Wednesday. Westfield Group has moved another step closer to its global restructure, striking funding commitments for $22 billion of financing facilities needed to establish the new Westfield Corporation and Scentre Group. The $400 million initial public offering for hotelier Mantra Group has collapsed.

Chinese company Yanzhou Mining has given a strong indication that it intends to continue supporting ASX-listed ­Yancoal, despite having cancelled plans for a full takeover this week. Legune Station in Northern Ter­ritory, once owned by real estate ­legendSir Leslie Joseph Hooker, has hit the market with expectations of about $60 million.


S&P ASX 200 Daily Chart (Source – Thomson Reuters)


The top gainers on ASX 200 were:-
 

Code	Name	Price	Change	%Change
MGX	Mt. Gibson	$0.825	$0.05	6.45%
JBH	JB Hi-Fi	$18.80	$1.13	6.40%
AHE	AHG Ltd	$3.80	$0.20	5.56%
BDR	Beadell	$0.63	$0.03	5.00%
ARI	Arrium	$1.375	$0.065	4.96%

 
Stock of the Day – Stockland (SGP)

Stockland is a diversified property developer and investor. About 60% of earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT, is rental income from it Australian commercial property portfolio, split between retail 60%, office 25% and industrial 15%. Residential and retirement living contribute 35% and 5% of EBIT, respectively. Low but stable growth is expected from the commercial portfolio.

Stockland has acquired 19.9% of Australand property group as major shareholder Capitaland fully divests its 39.1% stake. The business activities of Stockland and Australand are quite similar, with overlapping activities including residential development and ownership of office and industrial property. Stockland’s approximate 20% stake in Australand will not give it control but will be the largest shareholder and is likely to have at least one seat on board given Capitaland is likely to forfeit its two board seats.


Source - Stockland
 
We don’t foresee any meaningful synergies to eventuate from the transaction in the near term, with stockland indicating the transaction will be broadly neutral to earnings per security.

 
Stockland Daily Chart  (Source - Thomson Reuters)
Stockland advised that over time the holding will enable it to explore strategic opportunities with Australand. We see opportunities for the two businesses to work together in the long term, potentially accruing some scale benefits. These benefits are unlikely to be material unless operations are merged enabling cost reduction from removal of duplicate functions. We believe the stock is overvalued at its current price and would review it again at a later date.

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