Jarden Brief: Oil price climbs over worries about Russian gas supplies

The price of oil has risen over uncertainty about Russian gas supplies. Photo / 123RF

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

International

US

US markets were in the green at the time of writing. The S&P 500 gained 0.3 per cent, the Nasdaq rose 0.7 per cent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 0.2 per cent higher.

Energy was the top performing sector at the time of writing (+3 per cent), followed by consumer discretionary (+1.8 per cent) and materials (+1.1 per cent).

On the flip side, health (-1.1 per cent), utilities (-0.8 per cent) and real estate (-0.5 per cent) were the largest underperformers.

Mining company Freeport-McMoRan led single stocks with an 8.5 per cent improvement at the time of writing.

Solar technology company Enphase Energy traded 8.2 per cent higher. This coincided with bullish sentiment on stocks across the energy sector, as supply concerns drive up oil and gas prices.

Cruise operator Carnival Corporation was also trading in the green, up 7.2 per cent.

Delta Air Lines' stock was up 3.7 per cent at the time of writing. The company announced the acquisition of 100 Boeing 737 Max 10 aircraft, with an option to purchase 30 additional planes. Delta expects the FAA, America's civil aviation regulator, to sign off on the aircraft next year, with deliveries set to commence in 2025.

Insurance firm Progressive Corporation was the largest underperformer at the time of writing, down 3.3 per cent. Biotechnology company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals traded 2.8 per cent lower. Life science business Bio-Rad Laboratories rounded out the trio of underperformers, down 2.8 per cent.

Rest of the World

Asian markets closed in the green overnight. The Hang Seng improved 2.7 per cent, followed by the Shanghai Composite (+1.6 per cent) and the Nikkei (+0.5 per cent).

Finnish bank Nordea reported operating profits for the second quarter of 2022 of €1.36 billion, up 2 per cent year-on-year.

Commodities

Oil prices climbed, with the price of WTI Crude up 4 per cent to US$101.49 a barrel at the time of writing. This followed growing apprehension over the supply of Russian gas, along with an easing of the US dollar.

The lower dollar also contributed to an improvement in the price of gold, up 0.2 per cent to US$1,707.70 per ounce.

Cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum traded 4.3 and 9.7 per cent higher, respectively.

The yield on the benchmark US 10-Year Treasury improved to 2.963 per cent (+0.033) at the time of writing.

Indonesia's Government temporarily removed its export levy on palm oil goods in a bid to clear surplus stock and increase exports. Palm oil prices, which have already dropped by approximately 50 per cent from late-April, might reduce further given Indonesia is the largest exporter of palm oil globally. The levy will be phased back in from September.

New Zealand

The NZX 50 started the week in the green, up 0.4 per cent.

Stats NZ released the Consumer Price Index for the June 2022 quarter yesterday. Inflation rose 7.3 per cent year on year, which came in higher than the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's forecast of 7 per cent. The increase was largely driven by rising rents and construction costs, as well as transport, due to higher fuel prices.

Mercury was the top performer up 3.2 per cent after releasing governance roadshow materials that it will present in a series of investor meetings during July 2022.

Genesis Energy increased 3.1 per cent and agribusiness Scales Corp lifted 2.9 per cent.

On the other hand, Oceania Healthcare was the biggest underperformer, dropping 2.1 per cent. Stride Property was down 1.7 per cent, while The a2 Milk Company declined 1.6 per cent.

Healthcare company EBOS Group traded flat and announced it will release its FY22 results on August 24.

The BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index edged slightly higher in June (+0.1 points) to 55.4 points. After reaching its highest level in May, this further increase is seen by some as a positive indicator regarding the economy. This is because a reading above 50 may suggest expansion, while anything below could indicate contraction. However, the services sector is still facing headwinds like fuel costs and absenteeism of staff due to sickness.

Australia

The ASX 200 started the week in the green, up 1.2 per cent. The key drivers of this performance came from information technology (+2.9 per cent), materials (+2.4 per cent) and energy (+2.2 per cent). The detractors were healthcare and consumer staples, which were both down 0.5 per cent.

Global investment management business Pendal Group increased 9.3 per cent, leading the index yesterday. This brings the stock price back to A$4.11, which is a strong bounce back from Friday's 7.8 per cent drop after reporting disappointing results.

Battery minerals producer Liontown Resources also closed in the green, up 8.4 per cent.

Family tracking app Life 360 continued its run with a 6.2 per cent jump to its share price, now trading about 46 per cent higher over the past month.

Machine intelligence company Appen Limited was the biggest underperformer, down 3.2 per cent.

Kelsian Group, a tour operator company that offers transport services in Australia, Singapore and the United Kingdom also declined, down 2.9 per cent.

ANZ announced that it is purchasing Suncorp's banking division for A$4.9 billion and needs to raise A$3.4 billion to fund the purchase. Trading was halted for ANZ while funding occurs, so the share price remained at A$21.64.

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