Jarden Brief: Cruisy new travel rules boost travel company fortunes

A cooling of US inflation was largely attributed to a 7.7 per cent fall in petrol prices. Photo / 123RF

Keeping you up to date with the latest market moves, in association with Investment firm Jarden

International

US

All major US indices were well into the green with a positive day of trading following a weaker than expected inflation print.

The Nasdaq, S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 2.7, 1.9 and 1.5 per cent respectively.

Sector performance was nearly all positive with materials (+3.1), communication services (+2.8) and consumer discretionary (+2.7) all increasing. At the time of writing, utilities remained relatively flat, down 0.02 per cent.

The US Bureau of Labour Statistics today released Consumer Price Index figures for the previous month. Data showed that in July, the annual inflation rate was 8.7 per cent, a decrease from the 9.1 per cent figure released the previous month.

This cooling of inflation was largely due to a 4.6 per cent drop in energy prices and a 7.7 per cent fall in gasoline.

Importantly, the July figures showed consumer prices are still increasing in other areas of the economy, with a monthly rise in food and shelter costs of 1.1 per cent and 0.5 per cent each.

At the time of writing today, the shipping company Norwegian Cruise Line leads the market, having recovered from a significant fall yesterday, with a 12 per cent gain.

Recent second-quarter results showed occupancy rates of only 65 per cent and had signalled that booking levels seen prior to Covid-19 would likely not be attainable again until 2023.

At the same time, the Chief Executive Frank Del Rio announced the company would "no longer have a mandatory vaccination requirement... and have relaxed testing protocols regardless of sailing length."

Leisure travel businesses Carnival and Royal Caribbean cruises also experienced large gains in their share prices, each up 9.8 per cent.

Part of these gains could be due to investors expecting a similar easing of travel requirements for passengers on vessels of these firms.

More so, the fall in inflation and specifically energy prices may have also contributed to the positive momentum seen in travel and other consumer discretionary stocks this morning.

On the other side of the market, investment trading firm CME Group fell 2.1 per cent, following no news. Cybersecurity firm NortonLifeLock and global healthcare company Merck & Co both decreased 1.3 per cent.

Rest of the World

The European markets were in the green with the DAX, CAC and FTSE rising 1.2, 0.5 and 0.3 per cent, respectively.

Conversely, all major indices in Asia were down with the Hang Seng, Nikkei, and the Shanghai Composite falling 2.0, 0.7, and 0.5 per cent, respectively.

Commodities

Ethereum and Bitcoin rose 8.9 and 3.8 per cent each.

At the time of writing, the US 10-Year Treasury rate was down two basis points at 2.775 per cent.

Energy futures were in the green - WTI Crude Oil increased 1.6 per cent to US$91.9 per barrel, while natural gas was up 4.5 per cent.

Lastly, gold prices remained relatively flat, trading at US$1,812.7 per ounce. 
 
New Zealand

The NZX 50 Index remained flat to finish at 11,752.09 points yesterday.

The stock exchange operator NZX and bank ANZ lifted 3.3 per cent a piece. Agribusiness Scales Corporation gained 2.9 per cent.

The a2 Milk Company slid 7.5 per cent. This came against the backdrop of the US Food and Drug Administration yesterday deferring the dairy company's request to sell formula in the US market.

Also among yesterday's bottom movers was Restaurant Brands New Zealand, down 2.0 per cent. Cancer diagnostics company Pacific Edge slipped 1.9 per cent.  
 
Australia

The ASX 200 closed lower on Wednesday, losing 37.1 points to 6,992.7.

Sectors were mostly in the red, with only two increasing. Utilities (+0.9 per cent) and financials (+0.5 per cent) were the two gainers.

The biggest decliners were information technology (-3.8 per cent), healthcare (-1.5 per cent) and materials (-1.0 per cent).

Imugene led the top movers, with a rise of 9.3 per cent following the announcement that the first patient in their clinical trial of the oncolytic virotherapy cancer treatment had received the first dose.

Whitehaven Coal inclined 5.1 per cent.

Graincorp gained 5.1 per cent. The grain company updated earnings guidance for the year ended 30 September 2022. The earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation range has been updated to A$680-730 million and profits upgraded to A$365-400 million.

The announcement said guidance is subject to market variables such as grain export timing, new crop sales and prevailing weather conditions.

Gold miner St Barbara fell 11.6 per cent.

Following the confirmation of business continuity at Atlantic Operations, the company updated guidance for FY23 gold production to be between 280,000 and 315,000 ounces.

Also mentioned were increasing expenses due to rising energy, labour and consumables costs.

Technology company Life360 dropped 7.0 per cent to round off the single stock bottom movers.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia released 2022 full year results on Wednesday. Profits jumped 11 per cent to A$9,595 million and they will pay a dividend of A$3.85, up 35c on FY21. CBA closed down 0.3 per cent last night to A$101.

Centuria Capital released results, posting operating earnings of 14.5 cents per share with a distribution of 11 cents per share, up 10 per cent.

Operating profit rose to A$114.5 million from A$70.2 million. Centuria Capital closed higher to A$1.92, a gain of 3.0 per cent. 
 
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