Corporate travel and expense solutions company Serko was yesterday's biggest underperformer, declining 6.8 per cent. Mainfreight and EBOS Group closed out the bottom movers, falling 5.3 per cent and 4.8 per cent, respectively. The drops do not appear to be linked to any announcements from the companies. They could be linked to international declines associated with the invasion of Ukraine and inflation concerns.
Yesterday also presented a notable 3.4 per cent loss for Fisher and Paykel Healthcare. Now trading at $26.90, the company's lowest share price since the start of 2020.
Global oil price increases will likely see New Zealand petrol prices rise further. As global commodity prices continue to rise, ASB economists now see inflation hitting 7 per cent in the first half of 2022, above the actual 5.9 per cent CPI rate for the December 2021 quarter.
Vodafone NZ's owners Infratil have begun market engagement to navigate a potential sale of their passive TowerCo assets. They are looking to emulate recent high-profile deals for cell phone tower networks across the Tasman. The possible sale follows two cell site network deals across the Tasman.
The NZ dollar improved yesterday, increasing to US 68.9 cents, which equates to a 1 cent increase over the past week.
Today the Commerce Commission will release its recommendations for improving competition in the $22 billion groceries industry in New Zealand.
International
US
All major US indices were in the red at the time of writing. The S&P 500 fell 1.6 per cent, the NASDAQ was down 1.9 per cent and the Dow Jones dropped 1.3 per cent.
Energy and utilities were the only two sectors to rise, increasing 1.6 and 0.8 per cent respectively. The largest sector drops came from consumer discretionary (-2.5 per cent), communications (-2.4 per cent) and financials (-2.1 per cent).
For individual stocks, technology company Schlumberger N.V. had the biggest increase, jumping 8.6 per cent. This is due to Schlumberger N.V. being a major player in assisting oilfield services amidst the current oil price hikes. This was alongside the U.S. discussing easing oil sanctions on Venezuela. Schlumberger N.V. would be able to help enable performance and sustainability for any new oil drilling activity.
Following on from our largest gainer, oil and natural gas developer and producer Halliburton Company increased 7.3 per cent. Like Schlumberger N.V., Halliburton Company jumped up due to the potential for new oil refineries in countries such as Venezuela.
Continuing the oil trend, another gainer of the day was energy technology company Baker Hughes, with an increase of 7 per cent. Baker Hughes operates in both oilfield services and oilfield equipment (along with many other segments). This puts the company in a position to take up new opportunities in the oil industry.
The largest decliner, at the time of writing, was the apparel company PVH Corp (owning brands such as Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger), down 11 per cent. This follows PVH Corps' downward trend from last week, from which they are now down more than 27 per cent.
PVH Corps' fall follows other apparel companies and may be connected to concerns about lower demand for premium products amidst the events in Ukraine and potentially large inflation headwinds.
Ralph Lauren also fell 9.4 per cent, now down over 20 per cent from last week.
Rounding out the bottom three is cyber security solution provider Fortinet Inc, which dropped 9.2 per cent.
Rest of the World
The major Asian indices closed all in the red with the Shanghai Composite down 2.2 per cent, Nikkei falling 3 per cent and Hang Seng dipping 3.9 per cent. This may be due to a combination of high oil prices, a sell-off of tech and consumer stocks, and the invasion of Ukraine.
European indices were all down at the time of writing. The FTSE, the DAX and the CAC were down 0.1, 1.5 and 1.3 per cent, respectively.
The major Russian exchange MOEX remains closed and now has not been operating for six trading days in a row.
Commodities
Oil continues its run, increasing 2.6 per cent at the time of writing. This brings oil prices to US$118.52 a barrel, an increase of over 55 per cent from the start of the year.
There was a mixed performance in metals, with gold up 0.9 per cent and silver down 0.5 per cent.
The US 10-year treasury rate is up four basis points to 1.761 per cent at the time of writing. The 10-year rate remains over 7 per cent, down from last week's high of 1.91 per cent.
Wheat continued its upwards trend with a 7 per cent increase, taking wheat to 31.5 per cent above last week's level and over 70 per cent up from the start of the year.
Bitcoin and Ethereum were both down, falling 0.2 and 1.5 per cent respectively. Overall, the Cryptocurrency market fell 1 per cent at the time of writing.
Australia
ASX 200 started the week in the red, declining 1 per cent to 7,038.60 points. The index is down 5.5 per cent year to date.
Sector performance was mixed with nine of 11 sectors decreasing. Energy (+5.3 per cent) and materials (+1.0 per cent) were the only gainers yesterday with energy increasing 13 per cent in the past five days. Conversely, information technology (-4.7 per cent) and health care (-3.3 per cent) led the decline.
The top performer of the day was Woodside Petroleum rising 9.5 per cent. This was likely due to soaring energy prices as the global energy crisis continues. Coming in second was gold ore mining company Ramelius Resources, increasing 6.8 per cent, in line with recent increases in gold prices. Mining and exploration company IGO rounded out the top movers with a gain of 6.7 per cent.
Leading the bottom movers was Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, dropping 9.5 per cent after the commercial real estate company announced the acquisition of options. Biotechnology company Imugene (-8.2 per cent) and PointsBet Holdings (-8 per cent) also started the week in the red.
In other news, Platinum Investment Management declined 2.8 per cent after an announcement that the fund manager experienced net outflows of approximately A$205 million in February.
The Australian Government brought forward childcare subsidies that were due to take effect mid-year. From this Monday, working parents with two children will save up to A$162 a week. The changes have been costed at A$1.7 billion and were previously announced in the 2021 Federal Budget.
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