US markets faced turbulence over the last week. Photo / Getty Images
Keeping you up to date with the latest market moves, in association with Investment firm Jarden
New Zealand
The NZX 50 was largely flat at Wednesday's close, up a slim four basis points.
Utilities rose 1.2 per cent and consumer cyclicals increased 0.6 per cent as the best
performing sectors, while financials and technology fell 1.8 and 1.2 per cent, respectively.
Synlait Milk rose 5.6 per cent after its annual general meeting yesterday. At the meeting, it outlined it only expects a2 Milk's orders for infant formula to edge up, if that, but reiterated its confidence in generating a "robust" profit in the coming years.
Restaurant Brands New Zealand and Sky Network Television both increased 4.1 per cent, with each stock making up some ground lost earlier in the week due to concerns around Omicron.
Spark New Zealand declined 2.4 per cent following a strong performance earlier in the week, while a2 Milk fell a further 2.3 per cent in line.
Westpac declined 2.0 per cent. Westpac's Australian parent has been in the news this week for its agreement with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to pay A$113m to settle six longstanding matters. These include charging the deceased for advice, providing incorrect interest rate information to borrowers, and wrongly issuing duplicate general insurance policies with customers' consent.
NZ carbon prices reached a record $68/unit at auction under the NZ Emissions Trading Scheme, an increase from the previous record of $53.85 in early September. Demand was strong with 9.2 million bids for 4.8 million units.
International
US
US markets pushed higher this morning as the S&P 500 (+1.5 per cent), Nasdaq (+1.2 per cent), and Dow Jones Industrial Average (+1.1 per cent) were currently trading higher at the time of writing.
Sector gains include utilities and energy, which spiked 2.5 and 2.3 per cent. No sectors were down.
These sector gains were well supported by the single stock winners, with biotech company Vertex Pharmaceuticals and computer manufacturer Hewlett Packard (HP) posting gains of 8.2 and 5.9 per cent, respectively. The Vertex stock appeared to gain excitement among investors after one of its 'VX-147' products returned positive data in its treatment of kidney disorder, bringing relief to the stock - previously down 21 per cent this year.
Similarly, HP released Q4 2021 earnings at 52 cents per share, which beat consensus estimates.
Rounding out as the biggest decliner at the time of writing was Covid-19 vaccine producer and distributor Moderna. The stock had a strong run late last week and early during this week's trading, with fears of further infections prompting increased demand for its vaccine. This morning it was revealed the company had lost an appeal of a patent surrounding their drug delivery technology, which could now leave Moderna's vaccine vulnerable to further infringement suits.
Customer relationship solutions software company Salesforce.com also has had a slow session at the time of writing. Salesforce management presented at the conference, providing earnings and revenue forecasts which seemingly fell below investors' expectations. The company traded lower by 7.4 per cent, at the time of writing.
Rest of the world
Asian indices followed the worldwide trend and recovered some of the losses experienced earlier in the week. Highlights include all three of the Hang Seng, Shanghai Composite, and the Nikkei posting overnight wins of 0.8, 0.4 and 0.4 per cent, respectively. Furthermore, the MSCI Broad index of Asia Pacific shares rose 1.2 per cent, representing further recovery among the region's equities.
Commodities
In commodities this morning, gold is trading stronger by 0.6 per cent, at US$1,786 per ounce. WTI crude oil rebounded to US$67.5 per barrel as Omicron disruption concerns eased somewhat since the start of the week, however, investors still await the impact of the reserve release from OPEC Plus early next year.
The US 10 year bond was mostly unchanged at the time of writing, priced at 1.47 per cent.
Lastly, cryptocurrencies had a quiet 24 hours, with Bitcoin and Ethereum making modest gains of 1.7 and 1.0 per cent to each trade at US$58,429 and US$4,693.
Australia
The ASX 200 dropped 0.3 per cent on Wednesday, close to its lowest level in the past two months. This sell-off was likely due to hawkish comments made by the US Fed Chair Jerome Powell, indicating that inflation might not be "transitory".
Most sectors underperformed with consumer staples (-1.9 per cent) and utilities (-1.4 per cent) booking the biggest losses. On the other hand, materials (+0.6 per cent) and healthcare (+0.2 per cent) both closed in the green.
The single stock best performer on the ASX 200 yesterday was mining and metals company South32, rising 4.0 per cent. Lynas Rare Earths also performed well, closing 2.7 per cent higher.
Next in line was freehold property owner Waypoint REIT, increasing 3.1 per cent, reversing some of the losses made earlier this week.
Leading the index lower was GUD Holdings, dropping 10.4 per cent. The seller of automotive parts announced an institutional entitlement offer and placement yesterday to fund the purchase of AutoPacific Group for approximately A$744.6 million.
The completion of the placement and the entitlement offer raised gross proceeds of about A$120 million and A$170 million, respectively. The offer price was A$10.40 per new share, which represents a discount of 13.5 per cent to the last closing price on 29 November 2021. The retail entitlement offer will open on Monday, 6 December 2021.
Software and IT solutions provider for public and private health sectors Pro Medicus decreased by 7.4 per cent, while education services provider IDP Education closed 6.0 per cent lower.
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Disclaimer: The Jarden Brief is provided for general information purposes only. It reflects views and research available at the time of publication, using external sources, systems and other data and information we believe to be accurate, complete and reliable at the time of preparation. We make no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, correctness and completeness of that information, and will not be liable or responsible for any error or omission. The Jarden Brief is not to be relied upon as a basis for making any investment decision. Please seek specific investment advice before making any investment decision. Jarden Securities Limited is an NZX Firm. A financial advice disclosure statement is available free of charge at https://www.jarden.co.nz/our-services/wealth-management/financial-advice-provider-disclosure-statement/ Full disclaimer available at: https://www.jarden.co.nz/wealth-sales-and-research-disclaimer
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