Jarden Brief: Oil price gains as OPEC confirms it will not increase supply

Oil prices remained about $80 per barrel. Photo / Getty Images

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

New Zealand:

The NZX 50 gained 0.2 per cent again yesterday.

Consumer non-cyclicals and industrials rose 2.5 and 0.4 per cent, respectively.
Utilities and real estate were underperforming sectors, each down 1.2 and 0.3 per cent.
A2 Milk and Synlait Milk were top performers again, rising 4.6 and 2.6 per cent, respectively.

A2 Milk investors appear to have responded favourably to the indication that the daigou sales channel is recovering. Synlait Milk has benefitted on the back of this, with a2 Milk being its biggest customer.

Pushpay Holdings gained 2.2 per cent. Pushpay announced yesterday that its interim results briefing for the half year will happen on 10 November.
Electricity companies Mercury NZ and Meridian Energy each declined by 2.4 and 2.2 per cent.

Vital Healthcare Property Trust resumed trading yesterday after a trading halt on Wednesday, following the announcement of a $140 million capital raise. The company's share price declined 2.3 per cent yesterday.

The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand housing data was released yesterday. Across New Zealand, the median price for residential property increased 15.4 per cent in the year to September 2021 to $795,000. Excluding Auckland, the median house price in New Zealand rose 23.1 per cent for the year to September 2021, to a record $720,000, a 2.9 per cent increase since August 2021.

International Markets:
US:

US Markets are pushing higher this morning as the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones Industrial Average all made gains of 1.6, 1.7, and 1.4 per cent to offset a few slow weeks amongst equity markets.

At the time of writing, leading sectors comprise of both materials and technology, making gains of 2.1 and 1.9 per cent respectively.

Quarterly earnings covered most of the headlines, with all eight S&P 500 companies that reported earnings this morning beating expectations.

Multi retail company Walgreens Boots Alliance led the way with a strong performance so far this morning, up 6.9 per cent at the time of writing. Walgreens announced fourth quarter results, with investors reacting favorably to the company's strategic movement toward investing heavily in its healthcare assets.Additionally, earnings per share at 41 cents was higher than expected.

Copper, gold and molybdenum miner Freeport McMoran Inc. jumped 4.7 per cent, trading in line with higher prices for its underlying metals and the various broker upgrades, which saw its stock trade higher earlier in the week.

No sectors made any losses against the run of play.

Weighing down on index performance at time of writing were financial services and banking companies Bancorp and Wells Fargo. Both reported underwhelming quarterly earnings that contrasted with peers. Bank of America and Morgan Stanley both experienced gains this morning after the release of their respective results (up 1.5 and 3.1 per cent at the time of writing).

Rest of the World Markets:

Asian markets were mixed again to close Thursday's trading activity. The Shanghai Composite slipped 0.1 per cent, trading lower with newly released producer inflation numbers for the month of September, which came in at 10.7 per cent, above expectations of 10.5 per cent.

The Japanese Nikkei rose a healthy 1.5 per cent.

Commodities:

Amongst commonly tracked commodities, gold moved to its highest level this month, rising by 0.2 per cent to US$1,797.7 per ounce. WTI crude oil was higher by 0.8 per cent to US$81.09 per barrel as OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) confirmed it would not be increasing any additional supplies. Furthermore, the International Energy Agency confirmed gas shortages were a contributing factor, boosting oil demand.

US 10-year treasury yields are slightly lower, now trading at 1.52 per cent.
Cryptocurrencies were stronger with Bitcoin higher by 0.2 per cent to US$57,204.8 and Ethereum significantly higher, up 7.9 per cent to US$3,799.1.

Australian Markets:

The ASX 200 had its first day in the green this week, closing 0.5 per cent higher, on the back of inflationary pressures rising.

Information technology stocks were boosting the performance of the index, increasing 4.1 per cent, followed by materials, up 1.7 per cent. On the flipside, energy and financials underperformed, decreasing 0.9 and 0.5 per cent respectively.

Clear winners of Thursday's session were superannuation platform providers Netwealth Group and Hub24. Netwealth Group jumped 15.6 per cent after giving its quarterly business update and outlook for the quarter ending 30 September 2021. The company increased its 2022 financial year guidance for the net inflow of Funds Under Administration (FUA) to A$12.5 billion, up from A$10 billion previously. In September, Netwealth posted a record net inflow of A$4 billion, which is a 111 per cent increase to the previous corresponding period.

Similarly, Hub24 delivered a strong market update, with a record September quarter net inflow of A$3 billion. Platform FUA grew by 9.5 per cent compared to the June quarter this year and FUA for portfolio, administration and reporting services came in at A$17.8 billion, up 3.0 per cent compared to June.

Perseus Mining traded 9.4 per cent higher, after reporting successful exploration activities at its Yaouré Gold Mine in Côte d'Ivoire and at its Edikan Gold Mine in Ghana.

The greatest decline of the day was from Redbubble, dropping 12.5 per cent, as the market reacted unfavourably to yesterday's trading update. The online marketplace reported a 34 per cent dip in gross profit for the September quarter.

Oil refinery owner Viva Energy Group also underperformed, declining by 3.3 per cent, while Insurance Australia Group closed 6.9 per cent lower, continuing this week's downward trend.

Yesterday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released the September Labour Force update. The unemployment rate increased to 4.6 per cent, while the participation rate decreased to 64.5 per cent. There are now more than 110,000 fewer jobs than before the Covid-19 pandemic began. Expectations are for employment to bounce back swiftly, indicated by the increase of monthly hours worked by 15 million hours, due to businesses slowly reopening.

• 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>