Jarden Brief: China slaps further constraints on bitcoin

China is placing further restrictions on cryptocurrency trading. Photo / Getty Images

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

New Zealand:

The NZX50 fell 0.4 per cent yesterday.

Utilities and healthcare were the top-performing sectors, up 0.2 and 0.1 per cent respectively. The worst performing sectors of yesterday's session were financials and energy, down 2.7 and 1.9 per cent.

Cancer diagnostics company Pacific Edge rose 3.3 per cent yesterday. This follows health care company Kaiser Permanente's announcement that it will commence the commercial use of a second Cxbladder product, Triage, from the beginning of July 2021. Triage is used for patients presenting with haematuria (blood in the urine and a key indicator of bladder cancer) and has the potential to represent a large part of the bladder cancer addressable market. Investors responded positively to this news, with the company being the top performer of the NZX50 yesterday.

Retirement village operator Arvida Group rose 2.6 per cent, continuing its momentum from last week. Freightways was up 2.1 per cent, recovering from a drop last week.

A2 Milk was the worst performer of yesterday's session, in the red by 3.7 per cent and coming off gains from last week. Telecommunications company Chorus fell 3.6 per cent and electronic payment provider Pushpay Holdings fell 3.3 per cent.

Mercury Energy have agreed to purchase Trustpower's retail business for $441 million.

This Mercury acquisition is conditional on approval from the Commerce Commission and Trustpower shareholders. Once the sale has been made, the Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust (TECT), a 27 per cent shareholder, will continue to be allowed to pay its distributions to Trustpower customers in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty through annual rebates. Mercury Energy rose 1.6 per cent yesterday.

INTERNATIONAL
US:

At the time of writing, the major US indices had bounced back after the Fed's rate hawkishness spooked markets last week. The SPX 500 was up 1.4 per cent, the NASDAQ was up 0.8 per cent, and the Dow Jones was up 1.6 per cent.

Energy (up 4.0 per cent) and Financials (up 2.2 per cent) were the sectors most responsible for lifting the S&P 500 during the session's trading. Though still both positive at time of writing, the worst performing sectors on the day were Consumer Discretionary and Communication Services, respectively up 0.7 and 0.8 per cent.

The best performing company on the day was oil and gas explorer and producer Apache Corp, followed by energy industry servicer TechnipFMC PLC, with the third best performer being oil and gas explorer and producer Hess Corp, respectively up 7.2, 6.8, and 6.7 per cent.

These out-performing oil stocks were joined by Haliburton, Marathon Oil, Devon energy and Diamondback energy, all up over 5 pre cent. Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raisi announced his intention to pursue regional cooperation and re-enter the nuclear deal, unilaterally cancelled by President Trump. This sentiment was undercut when in his next sentence, the President-elect categorically ruled out a meeting with President Biden. Markets appear to have read this as an indication that the 3.8 million barrels per day of Iranian oil, currently locked down by American sanctions, is no closer to hitting the market.

The worst performing equities on the day included programable device developer Xilinx Inc, semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices Inc, and graphics card designer NVIDIA Corp, respectively down 2.9, 2.2, and 2.0 per cent.

Rest of the World Markets:

The popular Asian indices were a mixed bag at time of writing. The Shangahai index (China) was up 0.1 per cent; the Shenzhen index (China) was up 0.7 per cent; the Nikkei 225 (Japan) was down 3.3 per cent; and the Hang Seng (Hong Kong) index was down 1.1 per cent.

China is slapping further constraints on cryptocurrencies, with mining operations in Sichuan ordered to be closed down and Alipay and some major banks urged to crack down on crypto trading. These moves, along with thin liquidity, are cited as responsible for crypto volatility overnight.

Commodities

It was a turbulent session for precious metals. Gold was trading at US$1,783.28 per ounce (up 1.1 per cent); while Silver was trading at US$25.9 per ounce (up 0.6 per cent). For industrial metals, the closest dated Iron ore future was trading at US$214.21 per MT (down 0.0 per cent); the closest dated copper future was trading at US$9226.35 per KG (up 0.5 per cent). The closest dated WTI oil future was trading at US$73.63 per MT (up 2.8 per cent).

It has been a volatile session for crypto with Bitcoin trading at US$32412.55 (down 8.7 per cent) and Ethereum trading at US$1924.99 (down 12.3 per cent). The US 10-year treasury bond yield was trading at 1.4498 per cent (down 32 basis points).

Australian Markets:

The ASX200 started the week with a sharp decline and closed 1.8 per cent lower, on the back of investor fears regarding potential interest rate hikes.

Consumer staples and Information Technology were the only two sectors in the green, both up 0.2 per cent. All other sectors were underperforming with Financial (-3.4 per cent) stocks booking the biggest losses, followed by Utilities (-2.0 per cent).

Buy now pay later giant Afterpay was the top gainer of the day, increasing 2.5 per cent. Next in line was telecommunication provider Megaport, rising 2.3 per cent, followed by computer software developer Altium Limited, up 2.1 per cent.

Codan Limited, a manufacturer and supplier of communications, metal detection, and mining technology, was the worst performer of the session, decreasing 11.8 per cent. Mineral exploration company Chalice Mining, fell 7.8 per cent, while resource and infrastructure service provider NRW Holdings, declined by 7.0 per cent.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (-5.4 per cent) has entered into a deal to sell Hollard Group, which is its Australian general insurance business. The deal is said to be worth AU$1 billion.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has started looking into the issue of social media influencers giving formal financial advice on their platforms without a licence. The regulator is encouraging people to report on accounts suggesting specific financial products, as that is an illegal activity under the regulation. ASIC wants to support licensed financial advice, which has suffered over the last year, leading to many financial advisers leaving the industry.

• 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>