In Ottawa, some suprising news on interest rates seemed to spark market wobbles across the border. Photo / 123RF
In Ottawa, some suprising news on interest rates seemed to spark market wobbles across the border. Photo / 123RF
Keeping you up to date with the latest market moves, in association with Investment firm Jarden
International
US
The S&P 500 was volatile following new macroeconomic data and a smaller than expected interest rate move from the Bank of Canada, which produced a 50 basis point rate hikewhen 75 basis points was widely anticipated.
Macroeconomic data saw the US merchandise trade deficit widen while new home sales fell to just 580,000 for the month of September, a significant pullback from 685,000 in August and below survey expectations of roughly 603,000. Wholesale inventories also moved up 0.8 per cent.
Google traded down 6.4 per cent after market on Wednesday evening (NZT) and traded –8.1 per cent at the time of writing following the release of its third quarter results.
Revenue of US$69 billion fell below analyst estimates of around $70 billion, with advertising revenue at $54.5 billion for the quarter.
Management commented that they have seen a further reduction in advertising spend across both brand and direct exposure, also describing the current macroeconomic climate as "challenging".
Mobileye, a producer of self-driving cars, traded strongly into its IPO this morning (+29 per cent) after the company was spun out from previous parent Intel.
Further stock specific news included Universal Health services (+12.9 per cent) and Enphase Energy (+9.9 per cent) after both published strong quarterly earnings reports.
On the other hand, market laggards were Asurrant (-12.0 per cent) and tech solutions provider F5, down 10.1 per cent at the time of writing.
Rest of the World
European shares pushed to a five-week high, stirred on by corporate earnings from Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Mercedes-Benz and Standard Chartered.
Heineken went against the grain to fall as far as 7 per cent during the trading session, after its own third quarter beer sales missed expectations.
Investors will also look to the European Central Bank's meeting this Friday (NZT), where an interest rate rise of 75 basis points is widely expected.
Other news out of Europe included ministers from EU member states approving a law to promote common charging standards in the area.
From 2024, all electronic devices will be mandated to use USB-C charging, mainly affecting some Apple products, which use their own unique charging port format.
Asian markets rebounded mildly following a tumultuous start to the week, as the Hang Seng and Nikkei 225 finished 1.0 and 0.7 per cent higher, respectively.
Commodities
Both oil and gold pushed higher again against a weaker US dollar, while the US 10-year Treasury yield lost another 10 basis points.
Bitcoin held over the US$20,000 dollar mark, up 2.3 per cent, followed by Ethereum, which rose 3.9 per cent.
New Zealand
Trading updates from several companies influenced equity movements throughout Wednesday's trading, with Fletcher Building, Vista, Restaurant Brands and Scales providing operating numbers or guidance via shareholder meetings and presentations.
Fletcher Building (+3.1 per cent) reiterated full year guidance for EBIT at NZ$855+ million, pointing to a strong forward order book and a resilient New Zealand housing market against a potentially recessionary backdrop.
Management were keen to point out they were watching lead indicators and had a clear plan if construction activity levels began to show any signs of softening over the next six to nine months.
Similarly, the remaining three companies mentioned above reported key figures at or near expectations.
Of most interest, margin pressure was seen across the board, while Vista Group discussed an expected cash burn of $25 million in both full year 2023 and 2024, worse than market expectations.
Australia
Stocks reacted to the Australian Federal Budget (released after market close on Tuesday) to trade 0.2 per cent higher at 6,810.9 points.
Consumer Price Index (CPI) data surprised to the upside as the quarterly print of 1.8 per cent (7.3 per cent on an annual basis) was hotter than the anticipated 1.6 per cent.
Costa Group lifted 10.7 per cent at the top of the market following news of a large block purchase of the company's stock.
Paine Schwartz Partners notified the ASX that it had obtained interest in 13.78 per cent of the company's stock, pushing higher from roughly A$2.25 on Tuesday to above A$2.50 at market open yesterday.
Medibank Private spearheaded the underperforming stocks, losing 18.1 per cent after another development in a recent data breach scandal indicated hackers may have accessed personal data from all of the private health insurers 4 million customers.
Coming up today
In Australia, ANZ will post full year earnings and there will also be a quarterly update from Coles Group. EBOS and Freightways will host Annual General Meetings on this side of the Tasman.
• 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.
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