Coca-Cola and General Motors both had impressive performances despite some downbeat news elswehere in the US economy. Graphic / NZME, 123RF
Keeping you up to date with the latest market moves, in association with Investment firm Jarden
International
US
Equities advanced in both the US and the rest of the world, as the S&P500 posted strong gains on Friday and Monday (UST) while currently trading + 1.0 per cent this morning.
This followed a slight change in rhetoric from US Federal Reserve officials, coupled with weaker economic data.
Over the weekend, investors appear to have become more optimistic the Federal Reserve could soon shift its stance away from aggressive rate hikes and start to consider longer term easing and a stable policy rate.
Comments from San Francisco Federal Reserve president Mary Daly included: "The time is now to start planning for stepping down".
More data out from the US yesterday morning came in the form of US Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for October at 49.9, lower than the estimate of 51.0 and the previous month's figure of 52.0.
Further, this morning's FHFA (Federal Housing Finance Agency) House Price Index showed a 0.7 per cent fall in house prices in August, the largest since 2009, while Consumer Confidence fell below expectations to 102.5 from 107.8.
The earnings season pressed on with many large cap companies reporting quarterly profits this morning.
The Coca-Cola Company (+1.8 per cent), General Motors (+3.2 per cent), and United Parcel Service (+0.4 per cent) all traded higher after beating analyst expectations.
Alphabet, Microsoft and Visa are among companies still to report after market close.
PayPal seemed to impress investors, currently trading 6.2 per cent higher on news that Amazon will launch Venmo (owned by PayPal) on its platforms.
The payment service will go live on the Amazon app and website on Tuesday.
Other top performing stocks included healthcare company Centene Group, which was up 8.9 per cent after an earnings beat and the announcement of a strategic partnership with Express Scripts in the hope of unlocking greater prescription drug savings for its members.
Alternatively, insurer Brown & Brown lost 11.4 per cent, as the market laggard, following a earnings update that appears to have underwhelmed investors.
Rest of the World
Political movements across Europe and Asia have continued to influence equity prices with fresh developments in China and the UK.
Asian equities were mixed overnight following a negative trading session on Tuesday morning (NZT) that saw the Hang Seng fall as much as 6.4 per cent, its lowest level since 2009.
This comes after China President Xi Jinping's reshuffle of the Politburo Standing Committee, which now consists of many known advocates of the country's Zero Covid policy.
Additionally, Rishi Sunak became the UK's third prime minister in less than three months, after winning the Conservative Party leadership race.
Commodities
Both oil and gold rose on the weaker US dollar (+0.1 and 0.3 per cent), which currently trades at $0.5753 (NZD/USD).
On the other hand, the US 10-Year Treasury yield fell slightly by 10 basis points at the time of writing, supporting stock valuations.
New Zealand
The NZX 50 traded 1.1 per cent higher, buoyed by strong performances form large cap stocks Mainfreight (+5.6 per cent) and Fisher and Paykel Healthcare (+3.9 per cent), which were joined on the winners' podium by agribusiness Scales Corp (+5.2 per cent).
All sectors finished higher on the day, chaired by technology at +2.0 per cent.
Mainfreight led the market as investors digested a solid trading update at the company's investor day last Friday, which featured a net profit after tax upgrade for FY22 to $355 million, up 89 per cent year-on-year and ahead of analyst expectations.
Used car dealer and financier Turners (+0.3 per cent) provided a positive trading update for the first half of its 2023 financial year.
First half 2023 profit before tax was modestly ahead of the prior period ($23.2 million) and the company saw an increase in car units sold despite the wider market being down 7.5 per cent.
Michael Hill was another small cap to post a trading update, this for the first 16 weeks of FY23 with group sales up 27.5 per cent on a lockdown-impacted prior comparable period (FY22) and up 16 per cent on FY21.
The market reacted favourably to the update with the jeweller finishing 3.3 per cent higher.
Australia
Australian equities traded 0.3 per cent higher on Tuesday ahead of the release of the Albanese Government's first Federal Budget Australia, which was released after market close.
Highlights include a range of increased payments, focusing on social issues like the cost of childcare, retirement living, and other medical procedures.
There was also a new housing accord with states, councils and the building sector set to build 1 million new homes over five years from 2024.
Miners linked with inputs into lithium-ion batteries traded higher with Sayona Mining, Liontown Resources and Core Lithium posting 10.6, 4.2 and 5.0 per cent gains, respectively.
Sayona Mining recently announced it had developed a mine-to-port transport solution for its North American Lithium project.
Oil and gas company Ampol (which purchased previously NZX-listed Z Energy last year) provided a trading update, which showed operating profit of A$1billion for the first nine months of the year, more than double the same 2021 period.
Despite this, investors seemed to have focused on management commentary from chief executive Matt Halliday pointing to further volatility and uncertainty in the oil market.
The stock traded lower by 12.6 per cent yesterday. Reliance Worldwide followed suit with its own underwhelming quarterly trading update, landing 13.4 per cent lower.
Coming up today
In Australia, Consumer Price Index (CPI) data will be released today along with several quarterly updates or AGMs from companies including Woolworths and Whitehaven Coal.
Locally, key market news includes ANZ consumer confidence data and Fletcher Buildings AGM.
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All market pricing and announcements are sourced from Refinitiv, NZX and ASX.
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NZ GDP falls 1% in September quarter; analysts expected 0.4% decline.