Jarden Brief: Cryptocurrency markets in the red

The cryptocurrency market was in the red. Bitcoin decreased 4.1 per cent. Photo / AP

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

New Zealand

The NZX 50 dropped 0.4 per cent on Wednesday.

Travel management company Serko showed the best performance yesterday, gaining 3.8 per cent. EBOS Group, a healthcare company, was also up by 2 per cent. No recent news has been released for either company.

Trustpower rose 2.3 per cent. The electricity retailer announced earlier this week that conditions for its $441 million sale to Mercury Energy have been fulfilled. The transfer of some of its telecommunications and power business will begin in May, with Trustpower being renamed Manawa Energy. Manawa Energy will retain energy generation capabilities and continue to service its current commercial and industrial clients.

The largest fall in price yesterday was for Air New Zealand (-10.5 per cent), which had begun to recover from the prior week's losses after the airline announced its $2.2 billion recapitalisation last week, with both the company's main stock and its rights issue trading separately on the NZX.

Meridian Energy and Sky Network Television fell 2.3 and 1.7 per cent respectively, following no news.

Director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield has announced his resignation come late July. Additionally, having announced their resignations earlier in the year, the director and deputy director of Public Health, Dr Caroline McElnay and Dr Niki Stefanogiannis, are also stepping down from their respective roles.

International
US

All major US indices were in the red at the time of writing. The S&P 500 was down 1.1 per cent, the Nasdaq dropped 2.2 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5 per cent.

Five of the 11 sectors recorded gains, with utilities (+1.4 per cent), consumer staples (+0.9 per cent) and real estate (+0.8 per cent) leading the market upwards.

Bottom movers were consumer non-cyclicals (-3.4 per cent), technology (-3.3 per cent) and communication services, down 2.6 per cent.

Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co was the best performer at the time of writing, elevating 3.3 per cent. This rise in the stock price followed an investment bank naming the company as a top pick for 2022. It attributed this categorisation to the strength of the company's outlook in the industry regarding its new product cycle.

Utility services holding company Exelon and American Electric Power rounded out the top movers, advancing 3.2 per cent each at the time of writing. The top performers overnight all reached new 52-week highs.

Penn National Gaming was the largest loser at the time of writing, decreasing 8.0 per cent. Global cruise company Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings also fell 7.1 per cent. Closing out the bottom movers was MarketAxess Holdings, dropping 6.8 per cent. This built on the previous session's downward trend.

Federal Reserve officials have "generally agreed" to reduce the Fed's balance sheet by US$95b ($137.3b) a month. This consensus amount was agreed at their March meeting. The Fed also approved its first interest rate hike in the past three years. There will be a 25-basis point increase in the benchmark for the short-term borrowing rate. This is in contrast to the near-zero levels since March 2020. Governor Lael Brainard stated that steady hikes in addition to an aggressive balance sheet reduction will combat inflation and soaring prices.

Rest of the world

Asian markets were mixed overnight. The Shanghai Composite improved 0.02 per cent, Nikkei fell 1.6 per cent, and the Hang Seng declined 1.9 per cent.

European markets were in the red. The FTSE decreased 0.3 per cent, the DAX was down 1.9 per cent and the CAC lost 2.2 per cent.

Commodities

Gold traded 0.2 per cent lower to US$1923.7 per ounce.

WTI Crude Oil also experienced a decline, falling 4.9 per cent to US$97.0 per barrel.

The cryptocurrency market was in the red, with Bitcoin having decreased 4.1 per cent and Ethereum down 6.4 per cent over the last 24-hour period.

The US 10-year Treasury rate rose four basis points to 2.592 per cent alongside a four-basis point gain in the 30-year rate, to 2.621 per cent.

Australia

The Australian share market closed lower on Wednesday, led by a tech sector sell-off amid a rise in global bond yields. The ASX fell 0.5 per cent to 7.490.1 points. All but two sectors closed in the red yesterday. Information technology and materials dragged down the index, falling 2.9 and 1.5 per cent.

After its climb over the previous week, battery materials company Novonix led the bottom performing stocks, decreasing 6.5 per cent. Next in line was gold mining company Perseus Mining, down 5.9 per cent – this could be linked to the recent fall in gold prices. Asset manager Magellan Financial Group closed out the bottom movers, falling 5.7 per cent.

On the flip side, the financial and consumer staples sectors rose slightly, by 0.7 and 0.2 per cent respectively.

Whitehaven Coal booked the biggest gains, rising 5.5 per cent. The mining company rose against the run of play and nears its recent two-year high. This may be connected to NSW's government recently approving the extension of Whitehaven's coal mine in Narrabri.

Medical device company Polynovo joined the top performing stocks and continued Tuesday's climb, rising 4.6 per cent yesterday. This likely followed an announcement from Polynovo, which showed a record March quarter (unaudited) revenue of A$12.3m ($13.3m), up 59.3 per cent from the same period last year.

The financial services company AMP (which is listed on both the NZX and ASX) rounded out the top performers, rising 4.6 per cent.

The Australian dollar eased after touching a 10-month high a day earlier, currently trading just under 0.76 to the US dollar.

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Disclaimer: 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/ Full disclaimer available at: https://www.jarden.co.nz/wealth-sales-and-research-disclaimer