The fine relates to Google's failure to reach an agreement with news publishers. Photo / Getty Images
Keeping you up to date with the latest market moves, in association with Investment firm Jarden
New Zealand
NZ equities made gains on Tuesday ahead of the Reserve Bank's Official Cash Rate announcement later today, with the NZX 50 increasing a slight 0.2 per cent to 12,784.94 points at the close.
Sector gains included energy and consumer cyclicals, each leading the way with 1.1 and 0.9 per cent increases, respectively.
Overall, index movements were well supported by single stock winner Tourism Holdings, which bounced back 3.8 per cent to offset most of Monday's losses. The prolonged Sydney lockdown is set to reduce tourism flows and hence, demand for the company's vehicle rentals – a prospect which the market unfavourably reacted to on Monday.
Similarly, donation services provider Pushpay Holdings and aged care provider Arvida traded favourably to finish higher by 2.9 per cent each, rounding out Tuesday's best performers.
On the other hand, markets were weighed down by both the utilities and technology sectors, which fell 0.6 and 0.4 per cent, respectively.
Travel booking software company Serko underperformed with a loss of 3.0 per cent. In contrast to Tourism Holdings, Serko had a strong start to the week (up 2.4 per cent) which was more than offset by yesterday's trading.
Media company Sky Network Television slumped to a 1.8 per cent loss, with Port of Tauranga the market's third worst performer - closing lower by 1.6 per cent.
Recently floated My Food Bag was also a strong performer yesterday, up 3.8 per cent after ASX-listed ready-to-eat meal delivery service YouFoodz received a takeover bid from international giant HelloFresh at 93 cents a share.
YouFoodz has been considered by some market analysts to be a comparable company to My Food Bag, and the fact that it was bought out at almost double its share price could be considered a positive sign for the NZX-listed My Food Bag.
INTERNATIONAL
US
The major US indices were all in the red this morning, breaking a multi-day positive streak. The S&P 500 decreased 0.3 per cent, the NASDAQ declined 0.4 per cent, and the DJIA was down 0.2 per cent.
The US Labor Department reported on Tuesday that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 5.4 per cent compared to last year, slightly above the 5 per cent expected by market. Core CPI went up by 4.5 per cent, the steepest increase since 1991, exceeding the expected estimate of 3.8 per cent.
This increase showcases inflationary pressures, which pushed down the real average hourly earnings for workers, falling 0.5 per cent for the month.
Technology and consumer staples were performing well, increasing by 0.3 and 0.2 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, materials and real estate were dragging the market down, falling 1.0 per cent a piece.
The best performer of the day was aerospace and defence electronics provider Teledyne Technologies, rising 2.6 per cent. Next in line was global food and beverage conglomerate PepsiCo, up 2.4 per cent, hitting a 52-week high after its earnings announcement. Financial services company Mastercard, rounded out the top performers, gaining 2.1 per cent.
Packaged food company Conagra Brands was the biggest loser in the morning, falling 5.0 per cent after its earnings announcement before market open. Investment management company Franklin Resources followed closely behind, declining 4.9 per cent. Tech giant Hewlett Packard was also underperforming, decreasing 4.0 per cent.
Rest of World
The major Asian indices had another strong day. The Nikkei increased 0.5 per cent, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.5 per cent and the Hang Seng rose 1.6 per cent.
On Tuesday, Google (+0.2 per cent) received a €500 million (NZ$847 million) fine from the French competition authority for failing to comply with an order from April 2020 to negotiate fair deals with news publishers – an order which the global conglomerate seemed to bow down to in Australia.
This fine is said to be the largest fine imposed by the French regulator to date. Google has two months to present a new offer, otherwise the company will face fines of up to €900,000 per day.
Commodities
Gold edged slightly higher, trading at US$1,807.80 per ounce, up 0.1 per cent.
Oil rose by 1.6 per cent to US$75.26 per barrel.
Cryptocurrencies had another day in the red with Bitcoin decreasing by 0.7 per cent, falling below US$33,000, and Ethereum declining 1.9 per cent.
The US 10-year rate increased slightly this morning and was yielding 1.415 per cent.
Australia
The ASX 200 was flat yesterday.
Seven out of 11 sectors were up yesterday, with industrials +0.9 per cent and utilities +0.8 per cent leading the way. The worst performing sectors yesterday were A-REIT, which fell 0.9 per cent, and energy, which fell 0.6 per cent.
Nearmap rose 14.4 per cent as the top performer of the ASX 200 yesterday. The financial year 2021 preliminary results were released and exceeded recently upgraded guidance with annual contract value at A$133.8 million in constant currency, a 26 per cent increase from last year. Investors responded favourably to this release, pushing the stock upwards.
Incitec Pivot rose 5.8 per cent after releasing a manufacturing update announcing it is implementing changes to its business model from a global to a regional management structure.
Meanwhile, Monday's top performer NRW Holdings had another strong day, adding 5.2 per cent following the sale of its mining mobile plant equipment.
Platinum Asset Management fell 8.3 per cent after the exercise of options diluted the common stock. Whitehaven Coal fell 2.9 per cent and Charter Hall declined by 2.2 per cent.
The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence survey was released yesterday in Australia. Consumer confidence rose 2.2 points to 110.0 points following an increase in support provided to those affected by the New South Wales lockdown.
Of those Australians surveyed, 21 per cent are expecting 'good times' for the economy over the next five years compared to 14 per cent who are expecting 'bad times'. On the other hand, business confidence declined 12 points to 24 points in June, with the rising number of cases in New South Wales at the end of June captured in the data.
Coming up today
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will be releasing a rate review, which provide insights on where they see the OCR heading. Net migration numbers will also be released, although with borders closed, there are unlikely to be any surprises.
Overseas, inflation numbers are set to be released in the UK overnight while Westpac AU will be releasing the results of its Australian consumer confidence survey.
• 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>
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