Sectors were largely in the green, with only energy falling 0.1 per cent. The top gainers were communication services (+1.5 per cent), materials (+1.5 per cent) and financials (1.1 per cent).
Outperformers were led by NetApp, rising 6.9 per cent following the release of the company's first quarter 2023 fiscal year results on Wednesday. Earnings per share rose from the previous year to US$0.96 in the first quarter while the company returned US$460 million to shareholders through share repurchases and cash dividends.
ON Semiconductor was up 5.6 per cent and hit a new 52 week high of US$76.06 on Thursday. The company released earnings per share for the second quarter of 2022 of US$1.34 in early August.
DISH Network gained 4.6 per cent. The company's earnings of US$0.82 per share were released in early August.
Conversely, Dollar Tree fell 9.9 per cent after their earnings announcement before market open reduced financial outlook for the year. Earnings per share for the second quarter were US$1.60, which met expectations, however the company now expects earnings of US$7.10-7.40 compared to the previously forecasted US$7.80-8.20.
Salesforce declined 4.7 per cent. The company released its earnings announcement on Thursday, revealing earnings per share of US$1.19 and revenue of US$7.72 billion. However, guidance for the full fiscal year was reduced earnings per share of US$4.71 to US$4.73. The company also released a US$10 billion stock buyback program.
APA Corp dropped 1.8 per cent at the time of writing. Second quarter earnings released in August were US$2.37 per share.
In the second estimate of expected real GDP in the second quarter, released on Thursday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, real GDP lowered at a rate of 0.6 per cent, a smaller decrease than initially estimated. Upwards revisions of consumer spending and inventory investment were partly offset by downward revisions in residential fixed investment in the update.
Labour department data showed on Thursday that initial unemployment claims in the US fell by 2,000 for the week ended August 20. This is the second week of falls, bringing the number of claims to 243,000.
Rest of the World
Asian markets results were higher overnight. The Shanghai Composite rose 1.0 per cent, the Nikkei lifted 0.6 per cent and the Hang Seng inclined 3.6 per cent.
European markets closed mixed. The FTSE gained 0.1 per cent, the DAX increased 0.4 per cent and the CAC lost 0.1 per cent.
Commodities
Gold traded 0.5 per cent higher at US$1,770.1 per ounce, while silver rose 0.9 per cent to US$19.08 per ounce.
WTI Crude Oil fell 2.1 per cent to US$92.93 per barrel.
Bitcoin fell 0.9 per cent and Ethereum gained 1.3 per cent.
The US 10-Year Treasury rate fell nine basis points to 3.024 per cent alongside an eight-point decline in the 30-Year rate, to 3.237 per cent.
New Zealand
The NZX 50 retracted 0.2 per cent yesterday to 11,627 points.
Freightways for the third consecutive day was a top three performer. The company closed 6.5 per cent up and brings Freightways more than 15.0 per cent up this week.
Following Wednesday's strong performance, Scales Corporation rallied a further 5.6 per cent.
Restaurant Brands rounds out the top three performers with a 3.5 per cent boost to its share price. This followed two days as the worst performer on the NZX 50 on Monday and Tuesday.
On the other hand, Summerset closed 2.6 per cent in the red. Summerset earlier in the week announced the purchase of two new properties in New Zealand, in Masterton and Rotorua, and one in Australia: Mernda, Victoria. The combined three sites will be in excess of $600 million.
Closely behind was Investore Property with a 2.4 per cent decline in its share price.
Alongside Investore Property, Argosy Property also closed in the red, down 1.8 per cent. These were the only two of New Zealand's eight major Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) to close lower.
New Zealand's retail sales for the June quarter declined 2.3 per cent. Electronics sales were down 6.1 per cent, motor vehicles and parts retailing fell 5.8 per cent while hardware and garden supplies dropped 5.3 per cent.
Contrastingly, food and beverage sales increased 3.3 per cent and the strongest performance came from accommodation, up 11.0 per cent.
Australia
The ASX 200 closed 0.7 per cent higher at 7,048.10 points.
The Australian real estate investment sector was yesterday's top gainer, up 2.4 per cent.
Energy (+1.6 per cent) and industrials (+1.3 per cent) also ranked among the outperformers. Two sectors closed in the red, consumer staples (-1.6 per cent) and utilities (-0.6 per cent).
Western Australian uranium producer Paladin Energy gained 11.6 per cent.
Insignia Financial (formerly IOOF Holdings) improved 11.4 per cent. The financial services company's results release revealed underlying profit after tax for fiscal year 2022 of A$234.5 million, a 59 per cent rise on the prior year. Synergies during the year of A$124 million exceeded Insignia's A$100 million to A$120 million target.
Media company Nine Entertainment Co Holdings rose 9.0 per cent. Nine's fiscal year 2022 results were headlined by a net after-tax profit of A$315 million off revenue of A$2.7 billion. The company also announced their intention to repurchase up to 10 per cent of Nine stock on market.
Kelsian Group fell 12.3 per cent. The transport provider released their full year results for fiscal year 2022 on Wednesday, reporting a 12.9 per cent increase in total revenue compared to the previous year, to A$1,324.7 million. Kelsian's profit after tax amounted to A$52.9 million, a lift of 40.1 per cent.
Domino's Pizza Enterprises slumped 9.6 per cent after posting healthy gains the prior day upon the release of their fiscal year 2022 results. The pizza chain posted an underlying after-tax profit reduction of 12.5 per cent off 4.6 per cent growth in sales globally.
Investment fund Perpetual declined 9.4 per cent. The company reported a fiscal year 2022 net profit after tax of A$101.2 million, up 39 per cent on the prior year. Perpetual also reached an agreement to buy rival Pendal Group, doubling their assets under management (AUM) to more than A$200 billion.
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All market pricing and announcements are sourced from Refinitiv, NZX and ASX.
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