Reporting season, much like Australia and New Zealand, also played a big part in single stock movements at the time of writing.
Generator maker Generac Holdings found an 8.1 per cent gain.
Exclusive of any earnings results, Paramount Global rose 7.2 per cent after it was revealed that Berkshire Hathaway, the investment arm founded by Warren Buffett, had increased its stake in the company to over 93 million shares.
Heading the underperformers was Devon Energy (-13.1 per cent) as fourth quarter revenue and earnings both came in below expectations.
Cloud tech company Akamai Technologies lost 10.3 per cent in a similar manner, as first quarter revenue and earnings guidance also came in below expectations.
Rest of the World
On a more positive note, European investor sentiment was spurred by UK inflation as it fell for the third consecutive month to hit an annualised rate of 10.1 per cent, down from the 41-year high of 11.1 per cent in October.
The 10.1 per cent measure also fell below consensus estimates for 10.3 per cent, despite high food and energy prices and wage inflation continuing to apply upward pressure.
Barclays Bank (-7.8 per cent) reported full year earnings closely in line or even above analyst expectations (full year profit of £5.023bn vs estimates for £4.95bn).
But the company traded lower on an update providing detail around a breach of over issuance of securities in the US, first reported early last year, resulting in £1.6bn in litigation last year.
Commodities
Oil moved sharply lower again as data showed US crude stockpiles had jumped by 16.3 million barrels last week to 471.4 million barrels, the highest level since June 2021.
A strengthening US dollar put pressure on gold prices, currently trading down 1.2 per cent at 1,844.4 per ounce.
Alternatively, yields moved higher following yesterday’s heavier than expected US CPI print coupled with another hot US retail sales reading which showed January sales jumping by the highest increment in nearly two years (3.0 per cent gain vs the surveyed 2.0 per cent).
New Zealand
Local equity markets were active during Wednesday after a raft of stock-specific news from retirement village operator Ryman Healthcare, casino and resort operator SkyCity, as well as caravan rentals company Tourism Holdings.
Ryman announced it would be raising $902m in equity, its first sizeable equity raise since listing, via a pro-rata entitlement (rights) offer in an effort to shore up its balance sheet.
Management said the raise would be a reset of Ryman’s debt-heavy capital structure, using the net proceeds (roughly $750m after paying exit costs) to pay down debt and fund recent development plans. Ryman currently remains in a trading halt with no price change.
SkyCity (+4.9 per cent) published its half-year 2023 results, with the key development being the reinstating of its dividend at 6.0 cents per share for the half.
SkyCity, like its Australian peers, has struggled with the regulatory overhang of potentially impending fines and increased operational scrutiny within the industry, with this result a welcome relief for shareholders.
Following its merger with Australian based Apollo Tourism & Leisure Limited, Tourism Holdings (THL) released its maiden combined group guidance which markedly exceeded analysts’ expectations.
Original guidance for the combined entities on a full year basis (12 months each) was lifted from greater than ~$55m to greater than ~$75m, while the combined group post-merger (12 months THL + 7 months of Apollo only) is now expected to be greater than $48m.
This upgrade, although with little detail as to the drivers, likely gave investors confidence in the company’s ability to leverage the current post-Covid rebound in tourism alongside the potential realisation of merger synergies.
Other stock specific news included Fletcher Building publishing its official first half 2023 report which followed a market update on Monday.
Given the recently pre-guided result, the stock traded sideways to $5.07 (+4 per cent).
Steel &Tube slipped 4.4 per cent in the wake of its own first half result, with higher revenue on the prior period more than offset by increased costs, impacting operating earnings.
Australia
The ASX moved 1.1 per cent lower as the big banks dragged the index down.
Commonwealth Bank fell 5.7 per cent, its largest decline since November 2021, following a 1H23 result which missed expectations slightly (cash profit of A$5.15bn vs estimates for A$5.2bn).
Of most concern to investors may have been the steady decline in net interest margins (NIM, the difference between interest income and funding costs) since October, potentially signalling that CBA, and other large Australian banks, will see further negative trends from here on.
Joining CBA were the other major banks: Westpac, National Australia Bank and ANZ, which decreased -4.2, -4.1 and -3.8 per cent respectively.
Against the run of play, Star Entertainment Group, GUD Holdings and Cochlear Limited found 14.4, 8.1, and 7.8 per cent gains by the end of Wednesday’s trading. Star rebounded following consecutive 20 and 14 per cent losses while GUD and Cochlear were benefactors of strong first half results.
Coming up today
First quarter earnings for National Australia Bank will be in focus after yesterday’s CBA result. Closer to home, Skellerup will also report half year earnings.
For more information on the latest market moves, get in touch with Jarden.
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