Jarden Brief: New Covid strains threaten to derail economic recovery

The Delta strain has been found to infect even fully vaccinated people. Photo / AP

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

New Zealand:

The NZX 50 fell a slim 0.2 per cent yesterday as the market continued to process last week's Monetary Policy Statement halting the Large-Scale Asset Purchase program. Bond markets have now priced in a 90 per cent chance that rates will rise in August.

The NZX 50 was lowered into the red by consumer cyclicals and financials, down 1.6 and 1.4 per cent respectively. On the flip side, healthcare rose 0.6 per cent while technology edged into the green, up three basis points.

The top-performing stock of the NZX 50 yesterday was Port of Tauranga, up 1.5 per cent, coming off the back of declines this year. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose 1.4 per cent and pushed the healthcare sector upward. This was potentially a reaction to the return of pandemic concerns in Australia this month. Rounding out the top-performing stocks of the NZX 50 yesterday was industrial and agricultural producer Skellerup Holdings, which rose 1.1 per cent, recovering some of the ground lost during last week's trading.

Tourism Holdings and Napier Port Holdings both fell by 3.6 per cent. Tourism Holding's decline was likely related to restrictions to the trans-Tasman travel bubble with the current COVID-19 outbreaks and associated lockdowns in Australia. Napier Port's 3.6 per cent fall is a continuation of last week's decline. Skycity Entertainment Group fell 2.9 per cent. Yesterday it announced that its full-year results release will occur via a teleconference on 25 August.

Yesterday the BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index was released showing a 2.3 point rise from 56.3 in May to 58.6 in June. This shows the service sector improving in June.

INTERNATIONAL:
United States:

It's been a tough morning for the US markets as COVID-19 fears threaten to derail economic growth after the US averaged close to 30,000 cases per day last week, up from 11,000 in the week prior. All three of the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones Industrial Average are currently trading lower by 2.0, 1.3, and 2.5 per cent at the time of writing.

All sectors posted losses this morning, with energy (down 4.2 per cent) and financials (down 3.3 per cent) being the underperformers at the time of writing.

Against the run of the tide was today's single stock winner, supermarket company Kroger Co. Kroger jumped 3.8 per cent and is a likely benefactor with rising COVID-19 cases increasing the purchases of food and other items as people prepare to move back into lockdown. Artificial intelligence company NVIDIA Corp also had a strong run, up 3.5 per cent after a series of broker upgrades were per posted over the weekend.

To no surprise, rounding out as the single stock loser at the time of writing was oil and natural gas company Diamondback Energy, which underperformed to a 7.2 per cent loss as it traded in line with the concurrent fall in oil prices.

Joining Diamondback was real estate investment trust (REIT) Kimco Realty Corp. Kimco currently trades down 6.8 per cent as rising COVID-19 case numbers could disrupt traffic through their various shopping centres across the US.

In other news, NATO countries, with the addition of Australia, New Zealand, and Europe have publicly called out China in relation to the attack on Microsoft email servers that occurred earlier this year.

Rest of the World Markets:

The commonly tracked Asian indices traded mostly lower overnight as the Nikkei and Hang Seng made losses of 1.8 and 1.3 per cent respectively, while the Shanghai Composite remained unchanged.

European stocks followed suit after a wave of the COVID-19 delta variant continues to spread across the continent despite the best efforts of vaccination programmes, some even contracting the virus despite being fully vaccinated. The European Stoxx 600 and British FTSE 100 both slumped to 2.3 per cent losses overnight.

Commodities

In commodities this morning, gold is trading weaker by 0.2 per cent at US$1,808.1 per ounce amongst falling yield's which slipped to their lowest levels since February, the 10-year is now priced at 0.11 per cent.

WTI Crude Oil led the headlines as it free fell by 8.0 per cent (now priced at $US66.2 per barrel) after OPEC finally reached an agreement to boost oil supply. Adding to worries, the scare of further COVID-19 disruption also played on investors' minds with demand for some of the larger oil consuming activities linked to global travel and freight activity.
Cryptos finished lower this morning, with both Bitcoin and Ethereum falling 3.1 and 3.1 pre cent respectively, now trading at US$30,700.1 and US$1,823.8.

Australian Markets:

The ASX 200 started the week off with a 0.9 per cent decrease to 7,286 points. Weighed down by the current COVID-19 spike. Victoria has extended its lockdown and further details regarding restrictions are said to be released later today. South Australia has also re-introduced tough restrictions to curb the spread of the Delta variant. The new outbreaks might lead the Reserve Bank of Australia to rethink its government bond buying program, possibly delaying the unwinding of AU$200 billion quantitative easing program.

In contrast, early on Monday evening, ANZ shared that it would start an AU$1.5 billion on-market buyback.

All but four sectors were in the red, with materials (-2.4 per cent) and energy (-2.3 per cent) posting the biggest losses of the day. Healthcare and consumer non-cyclicals were the best performing sectors on Monday, increasing 1.6 and 0.2 per cent, respectively.
The biggest gainers of the session were royalty investment company Deterra Royalties and medical device developer Polynovo, both rising 3.4 per cent. Rounding out the best performers was agribusiness Elders Limited, increasing by 2.7 per cent.

Mineral exploration company Chalice Mining was the worst performer of the day, dropping 9.7 per cent. Next in line was gold miner Evolution Mining, decreasing by 8.7 per cent. Lastly, motoring company Eagers Automotive fell 5.7 per cent.

Property researcher CoreLogic's quarterly rental review found that the annualised rate of growth tipped 6.6 per cent in June – the fastest gains since January 2009. The data coincides with data from SQM Research showing a record shrinking in the availability of rental properties, with vacancy rates falling to a 10-year low of 1.7 per cent through June.

• 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>