Facebook parent company Meta has had a rough 24 hours. Photo / Getty Images
Keeping you up to date with the latest market moves, in association with Investment firm Jarden
New Zealand
The NZX 50 rose 0.4 per cent yesterday, continuing to recover after January's declines.
Mercury was the top performer, rising 5.2 per cent.
Skellerup increased 4.8 per cent after upgrading previous guidance for the first half financial year 2022 net profit after tax to $23 million, "in excess of 10 per cent above the previous corresponding period". Sustained strong demand across the group was highlighted as the driver behind the upgrade ahead of posting its first half 2022 result on 17 February.
Tourism Holdings gained 4.4 per cent. This is likely connected to yesterday's announcement that from the end of February, vaccinated New Zealanders in Australia will be able to self-isolate when coming home, expanding to all New Zealanders overseas in mid-March and foreigners from visa-waver countries no later than July. While this is a positive step for the tourism industry, airports, airlines, and tourism groups are emphasising that New Zealand risks having uncertain international tourism demand if it retains self-isolation requirements.
Vista Group International declined 3.2 per cent and road charging and services provider EROAD declined 2.8 per cent on no apparent news.
Serko fell 3.0 per cent to the lowest level in more than a year. The travel management and expense technology company lowered financial year 2022 revenue guidance to a band of $18 million - $20.5 million. Serko is affiliated with Booking.com and said the Omicron variant has reduced business travel in key markets.
The ANZ Commodity Price Index rose 1.0 per cent in January from December to a record high. This was supported by a 2.5 per cent rise in dairy prices, a 10.7 per cent increase in aluminium prices and a 2.6 per cent increase in horticulture. On the flip side, meat and fibre fell 2.3 per cent and forestry slipped 0.3 per cent.
International
US
US markets were let down this morning by a set of poor earnings results across some of the larger household names, particularly in the tech sector. At the time of writing, the S&P 500 traded lower by 1.7 per cent, the tech heavy NASDAQ and the Dow Jones Industrial Average also fell 2.6 and 0.8 per cent, respectively.
US jobless claims fell for the second week in a row on the back of easing Omicron concerns, coming in at approximately 238,000, compared to the previous weeks 260,000, and below the estimated 245,000.
No sectors have made gains during this morning's dismal trading session, with the laggards being technology and consumer-cyclicals, falling 3.0 and 2.2 per cent, respectively.
Large cap tech giant Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) dragged the market down this morning after filing its fourth quarter results for 2021. Despite posting revenue of US$33.7 billion (in line with consensus), Meta experienced its first ever fall in daily users as the stock dropped 26.0 per cent at the time of writing, wiping around US$200 billion off the market.
Other notable decliners included water technology company Xylem (-10.5 per cent) and online marketplace Etsy (-8.2 per cent) at the time of writing.
DXC Technology, as well as T-Mobile, were up-beat performers against the run of play, each currently higher by 13.7 and 10.4 per cent after both posted promising earnings results.
DXC posted third quarter revenue of US$4.09 billion, which was just below consensus. However, investors were seemingly impressed with DXC's reported billings growth and the company's plans to fund US$1 billion of additional share buy backs over the next 12 months. Similarly, T-Mobile's fourth quarter earnings per share came in at 34 cents, beating consensus estimates of 18 cents by a considerable margin.
Rest of the World
Many of the main Asian markets were again closed as Chinese New Year celebrations continue. The Japanese Nikkei remained open throughout the week, where overnight it posted a 1.1 per cent loss. Energy and utilities led the way, with gains of 1.2 and 1.1 per cent against a falling index. On the flip side, industrials (-1.7 per cent) and technology (-1.5 per cent) weighed down the index.
In other news, The Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey raised the official interest rate to 0.5 per cent, up from 0.25 per cent. This is the first set of back-to-back interest rate hikes since 2004, with four out of the nine officials voting for a 0.5 per cent increase, potentially signaling intent for further hikes.
Commodities
Amongst the commonly tracked commodities, gold cut a three-day winning streak to finish lower by 0.3 per cent at US$1,804.5 per ounce, along with other precious metals silver (-1.6 per cent) and copper (-0.6 per cent). Moving in the opposite direction, yields nudged ahead, with the US 10-year up to 1.83 per cent at the time of writing.
Oil prices remain volatile after OPEC (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) confirmed on Wednesday it would supply 400,000 barrels of oil per day throughout the month of March. This morning, WTI crude oil trades higher by 0.3 per cent at US$88.5 amidst further supply concerns.
Cryptocurrencies fell slightly with Bitcoin down 2.0 per cent to US$36,768.8 while Ethereum followed suit with its own 3.5 per cent loss, now trading at US2,614.5.
Australia
The ASX 200 closed slightly lower after Thursday's trading session, down 0.1 per cent to 7,078.0 points.
The technology sector was the biggest decliner on the day, decreasing 5.9 per cent. Moving against the market were utilities (+1.6 per cent) and materials (+1.5 per cent).
The best performing single stock on the ASX 200 was Nufarm, jumping 20.2 per cent. The agricultural chemical company gave a trading update to the market yesterday, stating a 36 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue for the first quarter 2022.
Financial services firm Insignia Financial also performed well, rising 4.4 per cent, continuing its upward rally kicked off by its second quarter 2022 business update from late last week.
Rounding out the leader board was iron ore miner Fortescue Metals, trading 3.3 per cent higher.
On the flip side, battery materials and technology company Novonix dropped 14.7 per cent yesterday.
Buy now pay later provider Zip Co closed 9.6 per cent lower likely caused by the general tech sell-off.
Joining the bottom movers of the session was immune-oncology company Imugene, decreasing 9.0 per cent.
The NAB quarterly business survey found that 85 per cent of Australian business are suffering staff shortages that hamper them from working at full capacity. It also showed that about half of the businesses surveyed have difficulty procuring materials needed and are facing price increases.
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Disclaimer: The Jarden Brief is provided for general information purposes only. It reflects views and research available 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. The Jarden 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 financial advice disclosure statement is available free of charge at https://www.jarden.co.nz/our-services/wealth-management/financial-advice-provider-disclosure-statement/ Full disclaimer available at: https://www.jarden.co.nz/wealth-sales-and-research-disclaimer
For too long, ‘accident’ has been a blanket term that absolves responsibility.