Jarden Brief: Bitcoin bounces back immediately after slide

The bitcoin story is still about a series of unpredictable ups and downs. Photo / Getty Images

Keeping you up to date with the latest market moves, in association with Investment firm Jarden

New Zealand:

The NZX50 had another good day on Wednesday, rising by 0.4 per cent.

Technology (+1.1 per cent) stocks were leading the index up for a second day in a row, followed by healthcare stocks, increasing 0.9 per cent. The worst performers were energy and utility stocks, down 0.8 and 0.5 per cent, respectively.

Vista Group International was the best performer on the day. The film software developer rose 5.9 per cent. Next in line was retirement village operator, Ryman Healthcare, increasing 2.3 per cent. Financial services provider, Heartland Group Holdings, completed the leader board yesterday, up 2.1 per cent.

The worst performer of Wednesday's session was Mercury NZ, decreasing 3.8 per cent. The energy retailer revised its 2021 financial year EBITDAF guidance from $520 million to $460 million. There were several factors playing into the new guidance, including an unplanned outage of the Kawerau geothermal power station and higher associated earnings from Tilt Renewables (-0.1 per cent).

Motor-home rental company, Tourism Holdings, declined by 1.6 per cent. Rounding out the underperformers for the day was Scales Corporation, down 1.4 per cent. The agribusiness group had its 2021 annual shareholder meeting yesterday afternoon in which management reiterated ongoing disruption of supply chains and uncertainty in the world markets due to the pandemic. Operations may still be impacted during the 2022 apple season.

In other news, the Climate Change Commission has submitted its final report to the Government, outlining emissions budgets out to 2035. According to the latest numbers, New Zealand will need to increase its effort to cut emissions, as current emissions are worse than previously thought. To achieve the net zero emissions target by 2050, the Government will need to amend its current policies.

INTERNATIONAL
US:

At the time of writing the US markets were a mixed bag. The S&P 500 was up 0.1 per cent, the Nasdaq had risen 0.3 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2 per cent.

The top-performing sectors of the S&P500 were healthcare and utilities, which had risen 1.1 and 0.9 per cent respectively. Utilities recovered from being the worst-performing sector yesterday.

The best performing stock was Catalent which rose 3.3 per cent. News last week indicated the potential for Catalent to take over Covid-19 AstraZeneca production in the US.

Another outperformer, Fox, rose 3.2 per cent. Its sports betting platform is predicted to do well this year.

The most underperforming sectors at the time of writing were financials and industrials, each falling 0.9 per cent.

Alcohol company, Brown-Forman, was the worst performer today, falling 5.8 per cent following an earnings announcement. While fourth-quarter net sales rose 14.5 per cent from the previous quarter to US$812 million, earnings per share of US$0.25 missed forecasts by US$0.07, which saw investors respond unfavourably.

Campbell Soup released its third-quarter results today. Revenue was US$1.98 billion, down 11.6 per cent, and earnings per share were US$0.57, missing forecasts by US$0.09. The sales decline was cited as inflation driven, with associated cost price pressures hurting the business.

Rest of the World Markets:

Asian indices were also mixed overnight. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.3 per cent, the Hang Seng fell 0.1 per cent and the Nikkei fell 0.4 per cent.

Commodities

Gold fell 0.1 per cent to US$1,893.70 per ounce.

Cryptocurrency moves saw Bitcoin recover strongly from yesterday, up 10.8 per cent, with Ethereum up 3.9 per cent.

The US-10 year bond currently yields 1.489 per cent, moving below 1.5 per cent despite increasing inflation concerns which would logically push the yield higher.
The oil price fell 0.1 per cent, with WTI Crude Oil trading at US$69.99.

Australian Markets:

With only 1 new Covid-19 case to go with high testing and vaccination rates, the Australian Government eased Victoria's lockdown restrictions, deeming it safe for residents to take a step back toward business as usual. In spite of the announcement, Australian equities traded weaker at yesterday's close, with the S&P/ASX 200 finishing the day at 7,270.2 points, down 0.3 per cent.

Outperforming sectors included utilities and basic materials, which made handsome gains of 0.5 and 0.4 per cent respectively.

Sector gains were buoyed by an impressive performance from Brickworks Ltd. The construction company traded up 11.3 per cent after upgrading its earnings guidance, the A$240-$260 range guided was twice the size of its previous financial year results.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE (owner/operator of Westfield malls) also advanced 7.7 per cent to finish the day as the second largest outperformed.

In contrast, downward pressure on indices was drawn from sector losses for consumer non-cyclicals (down 1.4 per cent) and technology (down 1.0 per cent).

The day's underperforming stocks were both software companies - Altium Ltd (down 7.5 per cent) and Wisetech Global Ltd (down 4.4 per cent). Altium continues to trade with significant volatility after it received a takeover offer on Tuesday this week.

Lastly, the Westpac consumer confidence survey for the month of May shed some light on how the recent Melbourne lockdown affected consumer behaviour. The index fell 5.2 per cent to 107.2 points, from 113.1 in the previous month as sentiment was humbled by the friendly reminder that Covid-19 challenges will remain, at least, in the short term.

Confidence jumped to record pre GFC levels at the start of May, meaning the correction could also be attributed to a form of mean reversion.

• For more information on the latest market moves, get in touch with Jarden.

Disclaimer: This Morning Brief has been prepared in good faith and reflects opinions and views at the time of publication, using external sources, systems and other data and information we believe to be accurate, complete and reliable at the time of preparation. We make no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, correctness and completeness of that information, and will not be liable or responsible for any error or omission. This Morning Brief is not to be relied upon as a basis for making any investment decision. Please seek specific investment advice before making any investment decision. Jarden Securities Limited is an NZX Firm, a broker disclosure statement is available free of charge at www.jarden.co.nz. Jarden is not a registered bank in New Zealand. Full disclaimer available at: https://www.jarden.co.nz/limitations-and-disclaimera>