Kellogg Co jumped to US$73.54 a share after annoucing a new breakfast cereal brand. Photo / Supplied
Keeping you up to date with the latest market moves, in association with Investment firm Jarden
International
US
US indices were mixed at the time of writing. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained 0.2 and 0.3 per cent while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1 per cent. Stocks continue to whipsaw after the Fed's interest rate decision this morning.
The US Federal Reserve increased the federal funds rate by 75 basis points. After delivering the third consecutive 75 basis point hike, the Fed commented that "The committee is strongly committed to returning inflation to its 2 per cent objective".
The market had fully priced in this move.
Following the federal funds rate release, the US dollar currency index surged 1.1 per cent to 111.45. The Euro, Japanese Yen, Canadian Dollar, British Pound and the Australian dollar all declined relative to the US Dollar.
Consumer staples and industrials were the best performing sectors, both up 0.4 per cent at the time of writing. On the other hand, communication services and consumer discretionary underperformed, falling 1.1 and 0.9 per cent.
This brings the S&P 500 communication services index to a new 52-week low.
General Mills, a global manufacturer of consumer foods, reached its all-time high today after its share price rose 6.0 per cent. The company released a better-than-expected quarterly profit and increased its forecast for full year sales.
Kellogg Co, also a food manufacturer, increased 2.9 per cent to US$73.54 a share. Kellogg announced a new cereal "Little Debbie Nutty Buddy".
Illumina was closely behind with a 2.8 per cent rise. Even with this gain, Illumina is still 47.4 per cent down year to date.
On the downside, Las Vegas Sands Corp was the largest underperformer, down 5.6 per cent.
Also in the red was Warner Bros Discovery, with a 5.1 per cent decline in its share price. The company's Norway chief, Espen Skoland, has announced he is stepping down.
Rounding out the laggards is Carnival Corp with a 4.7 per cent fall to US$9.94 a share. This continued decline brings the company 53 per cent down year to date and 84 per cent down since the start of 2018.
Rest of the World
The major European markets were all in the green with the FTSE, DAX and the CAC climbing 0.6, 0.8 and 0.9 per cent respectively.
Conversely, the key Asian markets all closed down on Wednesday. The Shanghai Composite dropped 0.2 per cent, the Nikkei lost 1.4 per cent and the Hang Seng declined 1.8 per cent.
Commodities
The US 10-Year Treasury Rate remained unchanged at 3.57 per cent. However, the two-year yield rose 12 basis points to 4.08 per cent, the highest level since 2007.
The metals markets were mixed with gold declining 0.4 per cent and silver up 1.0 per cent.
WTI Crude Oil and Brent Oil both decreased with WTI down 0.9 per cent and Brent falling 0.6 per cent.
Bitcoin and Ethereum both lost some ground, falling 0.2 and 2.1 per cent respectively.
New Zealand
The NZX 50 closed in the red yesterday, down 0.6 per cent to 11,498.95 points.
Air New Zealand led single stock gains with a 7.4 per cent lift.
The national airline released half year earnings guidance for the 2023 fiscal year, forecasting pre-tax earnings for the first half of fiscal year 2023 between $200 and $275 million.
The company incorporated an average price of jet fuel of roughly US$130 per barrel in this estimate, noting that highly volatile fuel prices have the potential to reduce earnings.
Cancer diagnostics company Pacific Edge gained 4.2 per cent, while retirement village business Arvida Group also finished in the green, improving 3.5 per cent.
Among the laggards, travel management company Serko dropped 3.1 per cent and real estate investor Goodman Property Trust fell 3.0 per cent.
Fast food firm Restaurant Brands New Zealand, which operates KFC, Pizza Hut, Carl's Jr. and Taco Bell, slipped 2.7 per cent.
The Government announced the recommencement of Pacific visas, with Samoan Quota registrations starting from 3 October and Pacific Access Category from 5 October.
Over the coming two years, these visa categories will allow up to 5900 people to gain residency, though this includes unused allocations from 2020 and 2021.
Further, foreign work visa inflows into New Zealand reached 8,061 in August, from just 285 in February this year.
Despite a rise in the number of overseas workers entering the country, the total number of foreign workers in New Zealand continues to decline with only 109,000 workers vs 175,000 in December last year.
Australia
The ASX 200 closed 1.6 per cent lower on Wednesday at 6,700.2.
Materials (-2.6 per cent), utilities (-2.3 per cent) and Australian real estate investment trusts (-2.2 per cent) pulled the market down, while the only sector in the green was telecommunications, up 0.1 per cent.
Washington H Soul Pattinson & Company was the top performing single stock, gaining 5.0 per cent following the release of its 2022 full year results.
The company will pay out a combined A$0.58 of final and special dividends.
The group's regular profit after tax of A$834.6 million was a 154.4 per cent increase on the previous period, which they attributed to increased commodity prices, property profits and higher dividend income from the Milton Merger.
Viva Energy Group increased 4.6 per cent after announcing their acquisition of Coles Express.
This acquisition will create the largest fuel and convenience network under a single operator in Australia. To support the successful transaction, the two companies will enter a two-year transitional services agreement. Coles fell 0.9 per cent yesterday.
Whitehaven Coal rose 3.8 per cent having released their annual report for 2022 along with a notice of an annual general meeting for shareholders.
They will seek shareholder approval to extend the ongoing share buyback programme, to acquire a total 240 million shares under any on market or off market buy back until 26 October 2023.
Imugene led the decline, down 13.0 per cent, while Sayona Mining fell 5.7 per cent.
Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT dropped 5.6 per cent on the announcement of a A$0.043 dividend to be paid 21 October 2022, ex-date 29 September 2022.
• 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.
Jarden is advising Heartland Group Holdings Limited in its announced capital raise.
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