Jarden Brief: State of Victoria relaxes border crossing rules

Australia is starting to relax restrictions after months of severe lockdown rules. Photo / Getty Images

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

New Zealand

The NZX 50 was in the green, up 0.5 per cent despite a record 94 new Covid-19 cases recorded.

Consumer non-cyclicals and consumer cyclicals rose 2.1 and 1.0 per cent, respectively.  
A2 Milk resumed its rally into a second week, rising 4.0 per cent after a 1.7 per cent drop on Monday. Its competitor Danone also released a result in which it noted that the Daigou channel had returned to growth. These comments were in line with the recent Bubs Australia update last week.

Mainfreight increased 2.0 per cent and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gained 1.8 per cent. Both companies continued to rebound following dips in large-cap stocks last week.

Meanwhile, Freightways announced the acquisition of ProducePronto – a supply chain service provider for same-day fresh and frozen delivery services across the country. The company was purchased for $10 million, with an additional $4 million to be earned by the company's prior owners should financial targets be met.

ProducePronto recorded $16 million revenue in financial year 2021, and services 1,000 businesses across Auckland. Freightways may seek to realise synergies with its Big Chill business, which it acquired in 2020. Market reaction was muted, with the stock sliding by 0.8 per cent.

Ebos Group's CEO noted a 'pleasing start' to financial year 2022 at the company's annual shareholder meeting, with growth recorded across both the healthcare and animal care segments. The stock traded up 1.4 per cent.

The two sectors to decline were utilities and financials, falling 0.4 and 0.1 per cent, respectively.

Sanford declined 1.8 per cent, Port of Tauranga fell 1.7 per cent, and Trustpower lost 1.6 per cent.

New building intensification rules were released yesterday in a bipartisan effort from the Labour Party and the National Party to amend the Resource Management Act. These rules will increase housing density by enabling three homes, three storeys high to be built on most sites without a resource consent. Modelling predicts the changes will see 48,200 to 105,500 new homes built in the next five to eight years, a potential tailwind for Fletcher Building.

International                                                                                         
US

The main US indices are trading higher this morning with the S&P500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones Industrial Average all posting gains of 0.7, 0.8 and 0.8 per cent, respectively.

Outperforming sectors include energy and healthcare, which made gains of 1.4 per cent each, contributing to market momentum. Consumer cyclicals was the only sector to post a loss, down 0.1 per cent on strengthening interest rates.

Sector gains were buoyed by an impressive performance from gaming and sports betting company Penn National Gaming (+5.0 per cent) after the company announced it had successfully completed the acquisition of Score Media and Gaming Inc for US$2.0 billion in total consideration. Penn now have ownership of 'theScore' app, which is the third most popular betting app in North America, adding to its gaming and digital media portfolio.
Home energy solutions company Enphase Energy jumped 5.2 per cent as it launched its Encharge battery system in Belgium, coinciding with increasing oil and gas prices overnight.

Healthcare retailer Ulta Beauty slumped to a 6.9 per cent loss after releasing an underwhelming sales growth forecast. Joining Ulta was payment services company Western Union, which lost 5.4 per cent ahead of its third quarter results next week.

Rest of the world

Asian stocks pushed higher overnight with the Hang Seng (+1.5 per cent), Nikkei (+0.7 per cent), and the Shanghai Composite (+0.7 per cent) all recording gains. The Hang Seng tech index climbed 3.0 per cent, with large cap e-commerce platforms Alibaba (+1.3 per cent) and Meituan (+1.8 per cent) contributing to the overnight rally.
Commodities

At the time of writing, gold is trading higher by 0.2 per cent at US$1,768.9 per ounce. WTI crude oil climbed 1.5 per cent to US$83.70 after a cold weather snap in China brought back fresh concerns about the country's ability to meet its soaring electricity and heating demand. Yields traded stronger, with the US 10-year now at 1.63 per cent.

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin surged to US$63,410.8 (+3.4 per cent) at the time of writing. Shares in the first US Bitcoin ETF were listed on the New York Stock Exchange, which will increase liquidity for Bitcoin as an investment opportunity. Ethereum followed suit, with its own 2.3 per cent gain, now priced at US$3,816.2.

Australia

The ASX 200 was flat yesterday, decreasing by 6.2 points.

Half of the index's sectors traded lower, with materials (-1.4 per cent) and energy (-0.7 per cent) booking the biggest losses. On the other hand, information technology and A-REIT stocks increased by 1.6 and 1.1 per cent, respectively.

Buy-now-pay-later provider Zip Co rose 5.2 per cent. The company gave a first quarter results update for the 2022 financial year on Monday. The group reported a record quarterly revenue of A$136.8 million, which is an 89 per cent increase year on year. The quarterly transaction volume also hit a record high of A$1.9 billion, a 101 per cent increase year on year.

Rounding out the leader board was machine learning company Appen, increasing 4.6 per cent.

Shopping and convention centre owner and operator Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield was the worst performer of the session, decreasing 5.7 per cent.

Metal detection and mining technology provider Codan also underperformed, closing 4.5 per cent lower.

Mineral explorer Chalice Mining, declined by 3.7 per cent, reversing some of the gains made in Monday's session.

The state of Victoria reduced its restrictions regarding people from New South Wales crossing the border. Greater Sydney is reclassified as an "orange zone". Travellers will no longer need to quarantine for 14 days but will have to produce a negative Covid-19 test on arrival and 72 hours later, isolating until the negative result is returned. For fully vaccinated people, the testing restriction does not apply. The rest of NSW is now a "green zone", which requires travellers to hold a permit, but no isolation or testing are required.

• 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>