Online travel booking platform Serko saw the largest gains, increasing by 4.2 per cent. Napier Port Holdings was up 3.6 per cent, after its Institutional investor Day took place yesterday. Rounding out the top performers was Skycity Entertainment Group, rising 2.9 per cent. The entertainment complex operator recovered some of the losses made earlier in the week on the back of its issues with Australian regulators.
Vista Group International was the worst performer of the day. The film software producer fell 3.4 per cent, eliminating the gains made in the previous session. Next in line was energy retailer Trustpower, dropping 3.2 per cent on is ex-dividend date. Milk powder producer A2 Milk Company continued its downward trend and decreased a further 2.9 per cent.
Mainfreight's co-founder Bruce Plested sold $75 million worth of shares to retail and wholesale investors in an off-market transaction. He retains a 15 per cent stake in the logistics company and will use the money from the sale to buy more property in Waiheke. Mainfreight (-2.3 per cent) has delivered an impressive performance over the last year as the share price nearly doubled, despite supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic.
Norske Skog is the owner of the Kawerau paper mill, which has been making newsprint since 1955. Due to decreasing demand of print media, the company has decided to close the mill. There will be about 160 staff losing their jobs and the mill owner will incur restructuring costs of about $40 million.
INTERNATIONAL
US:
At the time of writing the US markets were in the green as they responded to the release of US CPI (Consumer Price Index) data for May. Headline consumer prices rose 5 per cent year-on-year in May which is the highest inflation amount since August 2008 in the US. Excluding food and energy, core inflation rose 3.8 per cent, the greatest increase in almost 30 years.
The S&P 500 was up 0.5 per cent, the Nasdaq had risen 0.7 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3 per cent.
The top-performing sectors of the S&P500 were Healthcare, again, and Real Estate which had risen 1.7 and 1.1 per cent, respectively. Utilities recovered from being the worst-performing sector yesterday.
The best performing stock was Organon & Co which rose 8.1 per cent, recovering some of the decline from a slump earlier in the week.
Another outperformer was ServiceNow, a provider of enterprise cloud computing solutions, which rose 4.6 per cent.
The sectors underperforming the most at the time of writing for the second day in a row were Financials and Industrials, falling 0.5 and 0.3 per cent, respectively.
SVB Financial was the worst performer today, falling 4.2 per cent and leading the
Financials sector downwards. Despite today's decline, it has had a strong start to the year, making significant gains.
Performance management company Nielsen Holdings fell 4.2 per cent, there does not appear to be a clear catalyst for this decline.
Rest of the World Markets:
Asian indices were also mixed overnight, although mostly pointed upwards. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.5 per cent, the Hang Seng was flat and the Nikkei rose 0.3 per cent.
Commodities
Gold rose 0.2 per cent to US$1,898.40 per ounce.
Cryptocurrency moves saw Bitcoin up again today, 1.6 per cent higher and Ethereum fall 3.6 per cent.
The US 10-year bond currently yields 1.465 per cent.
The oil price rose 0.4 per cent, with WTI Crude Oil breaking US$70, trading at US$70.25.
Australian Markets:
The S&P/ASX 200 traded higher yesterday with the index making a 0.4 per cent gain to 7,302.5 points, nearing its all time high of 7,319.
The Housing Industry Association released new home sales data for the month of May, with sales rising 15 per cent month on month. Rising new home sales are consistent with the teeming Australian property market which has shown little sign of slowing down post the Covid-19 pandemic.
The leading sectors comprised of both Real Estate and Technology , making gains of 2.6 and 1.5 per cent respectively.
Financial software platform Iress Ltd led the way with a strong performance, up 16.8 per cent at yesterdays close. Iress made headlines after it squashed rumours of a potential takeover offer, citing media speculation as exactly that, and confirmed no offer had been made.
Whitehaven Coal Ltd finished as the days second largest outperformer, advancing 5.2 per cent on the back of stronger coal prices.
On the flip side, Energy (down 1.0 per cent) and Consumer Cyclicals (down 0.1 per cent) were the only sectors to finish weaker at yesterdays close.
Weighing down index performance were infrastructure company NRW Holdings Ltd and oil exploration company Oil Search Ltd, both recording losses of 3.4 and 3.3 per cent, respectively.
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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>
