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Keeping you up to date with the latest market moves, in association with Investment firm Jarden
New Zealand markets traded lower yesterday as the S&P/NZX 50 slipped 0.5 per cent to 13,104.6 points.
Leading sectors comprised of both financials and consumer cyclicals, making gains of 1.2 and 0.8 per cent, respectively.
Kiwi Property Group led the way with a strong performance to close at 1.7 per cent. Joining the mixed-use property investment company were electricity retailer Genesis Energy (+1.6 per cent) and Investore Property Ltd (+1.5 per cent). On the flip side, technology and utilities were the laggard sectors of the day, each down 1.3 per cent and 1.0 per cent.
Weighing down index performance yesterday were dairy conglomerate Fonterra Shareholders Fund and milk solids exporter The a2 Milk Company, with the largest declines of the day. The a2 Milk Company compounded loses since a class action was lodged against the company earlier in the week, trading lower by 2.2 per cent.
Fonterra traded unfavourably after a flat result at Wednesday morning's Global Dairy Trade auction, with the dairy price index remaining unchanged. Meanwhile, a greater volume of milk was sold (17.1 per cent) compared to the previous auction.
In other news, 2degrees' parent company, Trilogy International Partners, announced IPO activity has been paused for the telecommunications provider. Trilogy reported that this comes as they evaluate a possible alternative transaction with another party. In light of the news, Spark traded down 1.5 per cent while Infratil, which owns a significant stake in Vodafone, slid by 0.7 per cent.
US
US markets reacted positively to the news that the US Senate is nearing a potential breakthrough on the debt ceiling of the country, by getting closer to increasing Treasury Department borrowing by US$480 billion. Additionally, the Labor Department reported better than expected numbers on unemployment claims, which benefitted market sentiment. Initial jobless claims fell to 326,000 last week, which is the second-lowest level since the pandemic began. Tonight, the US will report the highly anticipated nonfarm payroll numbers for September.
The S&P 500 increased by 1.4 per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose 1.5 per cent, and the NASDAQ traded 1.7 per cent higher.
Utilities was the only sector underperforming this morning, decreasing by 0.1 per cent. All other sectors were posting gains, with materials (+2.1 per cent) and consumer discretionary (+1.9 per cent) delivering the best results.
The best performer on the S&P 500 this morning was mining company Freeport-McMoRan, rallying 8.2 per cent. Gaming and racing property owner Penn National Gaming was reversing some of the losses made earlier this week and increased by 7.0 per cent. Car manufacturer Ford Motor also performed well, up 5.6 per cent at the time of writing.
Twitter posted gains of 4.7 per cent, after selling its MoPub mobile ad network for US$1.05 billion to marketing software company AppLovin (+9.1 per cent).
Dragging the index down was Pinnacle West Capital, decreasing 6.8 per cent. The retail and wholesale electricity business hit a 52-week low.
Meanwhile, frozen potato products producer Lamb Weston Holdings declined 4.4 per cent, also hitting a 52-week low after reporting worse than expected first quarter earnings results.
Concert and ticketing company Live Nation Entertainment traded 1.8 per cent lower at the time of writing, after hitting a 52-week intraday high during the session.
Rest of the world
The major Asian indices were all in the green overnight. The Nikkei increased by 0.5 per cent, while the Hang Seng added a stellar 3.1 per cent.
Trading in mainland China will resume today after the close of its Golden Week national holiday. The country will report its Caixin PMI Composite/Services numbers later today.
Gold edged slightly lower, down 0.2 per cent to US$1,758.80 per ounce.
Oil reversed yesterday's trend and was trading higher this morning, rising 0.9 per cent to US$78.09, after the US said it would not tap into the nation's oil reserves.
The cryptocurrency rally stalled, with Bitcoin decreasing a slight 1.4 per cent and Ethereum increasing a slim 0.9 per cent.
The US 10-year treasury rate is at its highest level since June, yielding 1.562 per cent.
The ASX 200 recovered yesterday, rising 0.7 per cent.
Financials and healthcare were the top performing sectors, up 1.0 and 0.9 per cent, respectively.
Super Retail Group rose 7.8 per cent, while buy now, pay later stocks experienced a strong session with Zip Co rising 5.1 per cent and Afterpay increased 3.1 per cent. Gaming company Star Entertainment Group, however, fell 4.2 per cent despite no apparent catalysts to cause the sell off.
Collins Foods increased by 6.9 per cent. A Collins Foods' subsidiary has signed an agreement with Yum! Brands to become the KFC corporate franchisee in the Netherlands. Collins already owned 34 out of the 78 locations in the Netherlands, although this agreement will give them scope to develop up to 130 additional KFC restaurants over the next 10 years.
Pilbara Minerals rose 6.7 per cent. The mining company announced yesterday the commencement of commissioning at the Ngungaju Plant, the first step toward ramping up the facility.
Energy fell 0.6 per cent as the only sector on the ASX 200 to decline yesterday.
Oil and gas producer Santos lost 2.2 per cent after a rise in US crude oil inventories and a commitment from Russian president Vladimir Putin to increase its gas supplies. Oil Search (-1.8 percent) and Beach Energy (-0.4 per cent) followed Santos down.
Whitehaven Coal declined off the back of recent strong performance, down 7.0 per cent.
• 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>
Westpac's conduct affected a total of 24,621 customers.