At time of writing, the S&P 500 was up a slim 0.1 per cent, the Nasdaq Composite was 0.2 per cent higher and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3 per cent.
Amazon has closed its US$3.9 billion (NZ$6.25b) deal for primary care provider One Medical. Amazon has long had ambitions to expand into health care.
The deal gives Amazon access to One Medical’s more than 200 brick-and-mortar medical offices in 26 markets, and roughly 815,000 members. Amazon was up 1.8 per cent.
Microsoft announced the preview release of its new Bing and Edge apps for iPhone and Android, which include new features like voice search and access to its AI chatbot.
Microsoft also announced AI-powered Bing for Skype. Microsoft was up 0.1 per cent at the time of writing.
Coinbase declined 5.8 per cent despite the cryptocurrency exchange reporting a smaller than expected loss for the fourth quarter.
Coinbase flagged that subscription and services revenue helped offset a quarter-over-quarter decline in trading volumes. Coinbase was trading up pre-market but then declined.
Rest of the World
European stocks closed lower as the US market awaited the FOMC Minutes. The European Stoxx 600 Index declined 0.3 per cent and the FTSE 100 fell 0.6 per cent.
Asian markets were also in the red with the Hang Seng down 0.5 per cent on the back of a Hong Kong budget release with the economy shrinking by 3.5 per cent in 2022, while the Shanghai Composite closed 0.5 per cent lower and the Nikkei lost 1.3 per cent.
Commodities
Brent Oil is currently trading 2.4 per cent lower at US$81.00 a barrel while gold is trading a slim 0.1 per cent lower to US$1,832.20 per ounce.
The US 10-year Treasury bond declined 4 basis points to a yield of 3.93 per cent, easing off from the previous day’s jump.
Bitcoin fell 2.1 per cent to US$23,697.
New Zealand
The NZX 50 Index was 0.1 per cent lower yesterday.
The RBNZ raised the Official Cash Rate by 50 basis points to 4.75 per cent – in line with market expectations.
The OCR has now been lifted at ten consecutive Monetary Policy Committee meetings since October 2021, for a total rise of 4.5 per cent.
The RBNZ maintains a vigilant stance on inflation although it noted that the economic impact of Cyclone Gabrielle has introduced more uncertainty around the path of interest rates in New Zealand.
EBOS released its interim result and rose 3.3 per cent yesterday. Revenue rose 17 per cent on the prior comparable period and underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 39 per cent.
Outlook from management included an expectation of another full year of profitable growth and a strong balance sheet positioned to pursue growth opportunities.
Spark also has an interim results release and declined 5.1 per cent. Spark earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 94 per cent on the previous quarter, bolstered by the sale of 70 per cent of its cell tower network to a Canadian pension fund for $911 million.
NZME operating revenue rose 4.4 per cent year-on-year for financial year 2022, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation declined 2 per cent. Digital subscription revenue continued to grow, as did publishing advertising revenue and radio revenue. This was partially offset by OneRoof performance. NZME’s share price increased by 0.9 per cent.
A2 Milk recovered partially from its post-results slump earlier in the week, up 6.3 per cent.
Australia
The ASX 200 traded down 0.3 per cent yesterday.
The December quarter wage index rose from 3.1 per cent to 3.3 per cent. However, 7.8 per cent inflation indicates a 4.5 per cent decrease in real wages and purchasing power.
Domino’s Pizza released an interim result generally in line with market expectations with earnings before interest and tax down 21.3 per cent, although it pulled earnings guidance for the full year.
The company acknowledged inflation, and management of inflation, as a driver of this. Dominos declined 23.8 per cent.
The Santos share price is up 3.1 per cent following the release of the energy producer’s full year result. Santos reported a 65 per cent increase in revenue and a 160 per cent rise in underlying profit.
Coming up today
In NZ earnings will be released by Auckland Airport, Air NZ, Comvita, NZX, Precinct Properties, Scales Corp, Sky Network TV, Tourism Holdings, and Vital Healthcare.
Australian results are expected from: SmartGroup, The Reject Shop, Cleanaway, Accent Group, Qube Holdings, Iluka Resources, Strike Energy, Southern Cross Media, TPG Telecom, Cromwell Property Group, Platinum Asset Management, Bega Cheese, Appen, NEXTDC, Lovisa Holdings, Qantas, Nine Entertainment, Mineral Resources, Atlas Arteria, IDP Education, Star Entertainment, HMC Capital, Medibank, Ramsay Health Care, The Lottery Corp, Insignia Financial, Perpetual, and Blackmores.
In the US the FOMC Minutes come out and Q4 GDP is released, while in the Eurozone CPI will be announced.
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