Financials increased 0.7 per cent and was the best performing sector. This was driven by outperformers Westpac, increasing 1.3 per cent, and Heartland, nudging up 0.5 per cent.
Healthcare marketer and wholesaler EBOS Group ended the day 1.1 per cent in the green. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare had the largest decline, dropping 3.8 per cent, continuing its decline in falling almost 30 per cent since the beginning of 2022.
Pushpay Holdings and Infratil also found themselves in the red yesterday as underperformers. They dropped 3.5 and 3.0 per cent respectively.
The NZ 10-year government bond rate continued its climb, rising another four basis points. This brings the bond rate up to 3.35 per cent, a level not seen since early 2017.
The New Zealand Government awarded Air New Zealand additional funding as part of the Maintaining International Air Connectivity scheme. This will support air cargo flights over the next year – which the airline says will contribute up to $180 million towards its cargo revenue over the 12 months from 1 April. Air New Zealand declined 0.4 per cent yesterday.
International
US
The major US indices were mixed at the time of writing. The S&P 500 was down 0.1 per cent, the Nasdaq rose 0.4 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.5 per cent.
Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were in the green. Top sector gainers were consumer discretionary (+1.5 per cent), utilities (+0.2 per cent) and real estate (+1.0 per cent).
The bottom performing sectors were energy (-2.5 per cent), financials (-1.1 per cent) and materials (-1.0 per cent).
AMC Entertainment Holdings led the top performers, rising 24.6 per cent. This followed a media interview with the CEO, where he suggested more "transformational" M&A deals were in the works.
E-commerce company Newegg Commerce was up 20.9 per cent and real estate investment trust company Fibra Prologis rose 15.2 per cent.
Conversely, precision medicine company Theralink Technologies led the decliners, down 20.0 per cent after announcing a collaboration with Avera Health, a regional health care system. This collaboration is aimed to advance comprehensive molecular profiling.
Global manufacturer Chart Industries and aerospace company Rolls-Royce Holdings were also in the red, decreasing 13.6 per cent and 12.5 per cent respectively. Rolls-Royce took a hit as rumours of a takeover bid were dampened by analysts, reversing the jump from late Friday.
Rest of the world
Asian markets results were varied overnight. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.1 per cent, the Nikkei lost 0.7 per cent and the Hang Seng rose 1.3 per cent.
European markets closed mostly in the green. The FTSE fell 0.1 per cent. The DAX closed with a gain of 0.8 per cent and the CAC increased by 0.5 per cent.
Commodities
Gold traded 0.8 per cent lower at US$1,939.10 per ounce. Silver also dropped, down 1.5 per cent to US$25.23 per ounce.
Oil was also in the red, decreasing 6.4 per cent to US$106.56 per barrel.
The Cryptocurrency market was on the rise, with Bitcoin up 6.7 per cent and Ethereum rising 6.8 per cent.
The US 10-year Treasury rate fell three basis points to 2.464 per cent.
Australia
The ASX 200 improved a slim 0.1 per cent yesterday to close at 7,412.40 points.
Materials was the top performer (+1.3 per cent) and remains up 6.6 per cent for the past five days. Information technology led the underperformers with a 2.7 per cent drop. Real estate investment and telecommunications services followed with reductions of 1.2 per cent apiece.
Investment firm Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company led the index upwards with a 3.1 per cent rise. Commercial real estate company Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield rose 2.7 per cent. Costa Group rounded out the podium of outperformers, with the horticulture company's stock price growing 2.6 per cent.
Multinational miner Rio Tinto entered into an agreement with Guinea's military junta to establish port and railway infrastructure for the Simandou iron ore mines. Rio Tinto holds a 45.05 per cent stake in the southern half of Simandou, with Chinese aluminium producer Chinalco and the Guinean government owning 39.95 and 15 per cent, respectively. Rio Tinto's share price increased 1.4 per cent yesterday.
On the flip side, uranium miner Paladin Energy headed up the bottom movers with a 6.0 per cent decline. Accounting software provider Xero dropped 5.2 per cent on the day, the company now down 32.3 per cent year to date. Gold ore miner Chalice Mining fell 4.9 per cent.
All eyes are on today's Federal Budget. Media reports suggest the Coalition Government will move to address cost of living concerns. There is speculation that the Budget may include a temporary reduction in the fuel excise tax and one-off cash bonuses.
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