Keeping you up to date with the latest market moves, in association with Investment firm Jarden.
International
US
US equities dipped this morning after a series of US Federal Reserve officials re-iterated their
Homecare retailers Bath & Body Works rose 22.4 per cent higher at the time of writing to stand as the market leader.
Keeping you up to date with the latest market moves, in association with Investment firm Jarden.
International
US
US equities dipped this morning after a series of US Federal Reserve officials re-iterated their stance to remain persistent in combatting inflation, including the St. Louis Fed President James Bullard indicating rates may need to rise to within the 5-7 per cent range.
The S&P 500 was down 0.5 per cent at the time of writing, while the tech-laden Nasdaq had also fell 0.5 per cent.
Healthcare (+0.2 per cent) made gains against the run of play, while utilities (-1.5 per cent) and materials (-1.4 per cent) were the underperformers at the time of writing.
Tech company Cisco posted a 3.6 per cent gain. The US circa $182 billion (NZ$297b) communications systems company beat earnings per share estimates at 86 cents (vs expectations of 84) while also upgrading guidance for the second quarter.
Apple gained 0.6 per cent and Microsoft remained roughly unchanged at the time of writing.
Homecare retailers Bath & Body Works rose 22.4 per cent higher at the time of writing to stand as the market leader, amid its own third quarterly earnings that included a healthy upgrade to fourth quarter estimates.
Other news from the US included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opting out of re-election after two decades as the top House Democrat. Pelosi, 82, has not revealed whether she will remain in the party’s leadership.
Rest of the World
Asian stocks were mostly down as the Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite slid 1.2 and 0.2 per cent.
News flow included large tech company Tencent announcing it would sell down its US$20b stake in food delivery company Meituan as it looks to reduce its position in the wider Asian tech market.
Tencent, listed on the Hong Kong exchange, lost 0.8 per cent despite the company planning to redistribute part of the Meituan sale proceeds through dividends.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 also paired losses following a larger than expected US$15.5b trade deficit having been recorded for October, driven by a weaker yen and a surge in imports.
Commodities
Oil fell for a second day (Brent Crude -3.2 per cent) as rising Covid-19 cases in China add to demand concerns, with gold also modestly lower, trading against the strengthening US dollar.
Cryptocurrencies continue to find some respite following a poor past few weeks, with Bitcoin and Ethereum making 0.8 and 0.1 per cent at the time of writing, buoyed by news that popular American fund manager Cathie Wood had added to her holdings in Coinbase and other Crypto stocks in the aftermath of the widely reported FTX fallout.
New Zealand
The NZX 50 had a modest gain of 0.5 per cent at Thursday’s close to finish at 11,294.5 points.
Top performing stocks included Argosy Property (+3.4 per cent) and Fisher and Paykel Healthcare (+3.3 per cent), while Contact Energy and Kathmandu Brands underperformed at -2.1 and 1.8 per cent losses, respectively.
Channel Infrastructure (outside of the NZX 50) led stock-specific news after upgrading its revenue and operating earnings guidance for FY2023 as expectations lifted from $118 to $126.5m and $80 to $83m at the midpoint, respectively.
The country’s largest fuel import terminal cited the 8.4 per cent rise in Producers Price Index, to which its terminal services fees are indexed, as reason for the upgrade. It said associated increases in revenues more than offset inflationary impacts on cost base.
Dividends are now expected to be in the range of 9-11 cents per share (up from 8-11) as the stock price pushed higher by 1.4 per cent at the close.
Australia
The ASX 200 ticked 0.2 per cent higher on Thursday to 7135.7 points, buoyed by the consumer staples and healthcare sector which made 1.9 and 1.4 per cent gains, respectively.
On market open, Australia’s exchange operator ASX announced it had paused its seven-year blockchain project, which was expected to replace its current CHESS settlement and clearing systems.
The company indicated that following the result of an external report, which pointed out numerous problems with the project’s implementation and potential timeline, it will be writing off roughly A$245-A$255m in pre-tax costs.
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission released a letter following the announcement, stating the exchange would be required to bring the replacement program back on track once the solution design has been completed, in order to provide safe and reliable trading and clearing infrastructure to the market. ASX.AX fell 0.2 per cent yesterday to A$71.0.
Travel booking technology company Webjet (+10.14 per cent) impressed the market with its half year results, beating earnings estimates to turn its first profit (A$4 million) since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Revenue for the period was $175.8 million (up 216 per cent) off a similar increase in total transaction value with management bullish on the company’s prospects on increased travel demand, despite a potentially recessionary backdrop.
Pendal Group Ltd (+10.5 per cent) and Perpetual Ltd (-12.60 per cent) were both the top and bottom performers, respectively, to close Thursday’s trading.
This followed an update to the ongoing Pendal-Perpetual (both fund managers) merger deal, with Perpetual (the acquirer) tweaking its share/cash offer mix in hope of pushing through its acquisition. Pendal shareholders are now set to receive one Perpetual share plus A$1.65 in cash in exchange for seven Pendal shares, an upgrade on previous offers.
Joining Perpetual as the market laggards were New Hope and Whitehaven Coal, down 6.5 and 6.3 per cent, respectively.
Both companies are involved in the extraction, or provision, of infrastructure surrounding coal mining.
Coming up today
Locally, Ryman Healthcare and My Food Bag will report first half earnings, while The a2 Milk Company will host its Annual General Meeting.
For more information on the latest market moves, get in touch with Jarden.
All market pricing and announcements are sourced from Refinitiv, NZX and ASX.
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/.
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Normally his trades were modest - but a few big deals caught unwanted attention.