The biggest winner of the session was church donation platform provider Pushpay Holdings, up 3.3 per cent, hitting a four-month high. Next in line was commercial property developer, Goodman Property Trust, increasing 2.8 per cent, ahead of unitholders receiving an interim dividend this Thursday. Tourism Holdings also performed well, closing 2.6 per cent higher.
Infrastructure investment company Infratil (+2.3 per cent) announced last Friday that it would commit US$233 million to establish a renewable energy development platform headquartered in Singapore. The platform, Gurīn Energy, will focus on greenfield renewable projects across Asia.
On the flipside, Sky Network Television declined the most, down 2.4 per cent.
Telecommunications company Chorus decreased by 1.5 per cent, followed by milk powder producer Synlait Milk, closing 1.3 per cent lower.
Briscoes is reporting its half-year figures today.New Zealand's second quarter 2021 GDP numbers will be published on Thursday - expectations are that this will lift.
International Markets:
US:
US markets were a mixed bag at the time of writing with the S&P 500 down 0.2 per cent, the Nasdaq 0.4 per cent lower and the Dow Jones Industrial Average trading up 0.3 per cent.
New Zealand startup Rocket Lab cooled off after last week's stellar run, down 17.0 per cent this morning at the time of writing.
Top-performing sectors were energy and financials, rising 2.5 and 0.6 per cent, respectively.
Marathon Oil Corp led the session, up 6.4 per cent. APA Corp rose 6.4 per cent and Occidental Petroleum Corp was up 6.3 per cent. These oil companies rose as WTI crude oil prices advanced above US$70.00.
In contrast, downward pressure on indices was drawn from sector losses for health and materials, falling 1.0 and 0.5 per cent, respectively.
Bio-tech and Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer Moderna lost some of last week's gains, down 6.8 per cent. The recent surge can be linked to The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the US. It is developing requirements for employers of 100 or more employees to either be fully vaccinated or produce a weekly negative test result before coming to work.
Albemarle Corp was another underperformer, down 6.4 per cent. The lithium producer announced that a Chilean union had rejected Albemarle's latest labour contract offer, extending a walk off for more than a month.
Steel products company Nucor Corp fell 4.5 per cent.
Rest of the World Markets:
The main Asian indices were mixed at the close, the Hang Seng traded down 1.5 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite and the Nikkei made gains of 0.2 and 0.3 per cent, respectively.
Commodities:
Gold rose a slim 0.1 per cent to US$1,794.30 per ounce. WTI crude oil rose 1.0 per cent, now priced at US$70.44 per barrel. The 10-year US bond yield is now priced at 1.32 per cent.
Cryptocurrency dipped overnight, with Bitcoin trading at US$44,644.03 (-2.8 per cent) and Ethereum down to US$3,230.32 (-5.0 per cent).
Australian Markets:
The S&P/ASX 200 traded in the green yesterday, with the index nudging up 0.3 per cent to 7,425.2 points.
Leading sectors comprised of both energy and materials, which made gains of 1.2 and 0.7 per cent respectively.
Mining companies led the way with strong performances from Pilbara Minerals and Lynas Rare Earths, up 6.8 and 5.1 per cent at yesterdays close. The companies traded higher with their underlying commodities.
In the mix was Sydney Airport, which pushed forward 4.7 per cent in the wake of receiving another takeover offer from Sydney Aviation Alliance. This time around, the takeover offer was valued at $8.75 per share, 6.0 per cent higher than its original offer and at a 51 per cent premium to the company's share price when the original offer was first publicly announced.
On the flip side, real estate (down 0.6 per cent) and educational services (down 0.4 per cent) were the laggard sectors at yesterday's close.
Weighing down index performance was single stock loser Omni Bridgeway Ltd, which traded unfavourably - down 4.5 per cent. The finance company has been tied up in a legal battle with investors in relation to the company going into receivership into 2018.
Joining Omni was Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (owner of various retail Westfield malls), down 3.3 per cent.
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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>
