Jarden Brief: Building activity jumps, NZ residential building costs increase 4.2 per cent

The volume of building activity rose in the June quarter - but building costs increased even more. Photo / Michael Dawson

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

International

US

US markets were closed for Labor Day.

Rest of the World

Asian markets were mixed overnight. The Nikkei and Hang Seng declined 0.1 and 1.2 per cent, respectively. The Shanghai Composite improved 0.4 per cent.

Japan's service sector contracted in August, as the au Jibun Bank Japan Services
purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 49.5 in August.

A reading below 50 for this index indicates less activity, while a result above 50 suggests an increase.

The index fell from the previous month's expansionary mark of 50.3. A rise in Covid-19 case numbers was referenced as a contributing factor to the decrease in activity.

Liz Truss was announced as the UK's next prime minister, after winning a Conservative Party leadership contest against former finance minister Rishi Sunak in a ballot of the party's members.

Commodities

The WTI Crude Oil price lifted 2.4 per cent, reaching US$88.93 per barrel at the time of writing.

OPEC+ agreed to cut oil production by 100,000 barrels per day for October, just 0.1 per cent of worldwide demand.

Gold reduced 0.1 per cent to US$1,720.80 an ounce.

Cryptocurrencies were mixed, with Bitcoin down 1.0 per cent and Ethereum up 1.0 per cent at the time of writing.

The benchmark US 10-Year Treasury Yield fell to 3.195 per cent (-0.07).

New Zealand

The NZX 50 started the week in the red yesterday, decreasing a slim 0.1 per cent to 11,619.04 points.

The top performer of the index was Pacific Edge, lifting 6.5 per cent.

Also increasing were Infratil, up 3.4 per cent, and Restaurant Brands, gaining 2.0 per cent.

The biggest underperformer was KMD Brands, down 3.7 per cent, the company will release full year results on September 20.

Closing out the bottom movers were Oceania Healthcare and Vista Group, down 3.0 and 2.2 per cent respectively.

Yesterday, Statistics NZ released building activity data for June. The volume of building activity in NZ rose 2.6 per cent in the June quarter, compared with the March 2022 quarter, with effects of price changes and typical seasonal patterns removed.

In the same period residential building costs increased 4.2 per cent while non-residential building costs were up 3.6 per cent.

Australia

The ASX 200 started off the week in the green, up 0.3 per cent yesterday. Energy and materials were the leading sectors of the index with 4.0 and 1.9 per cent increases respectively.

On the other hand, consumer discretionary and information technology lagged, each with 0.9 and 0.8 per cent drops.

The top performers were dominated by the energy sector with Whitehaven Coal (+6.5 per cent), Paladin Energy (+6.4 per cent), Beach Energy (+5.2 per cent) and Woodside Energy (+4.2 per cent) leading the index higher.

Whitehaven Coal closed at AU$8.49. This represents the company's all-time high. In the year to date, Whitehaven rose over 200 per cent, with the share price starting the year at AU$2.76.

Biotechnology company Imugene Limited was the worst performer of the day, down 8.2 per cent.

Also in the red were Pointsbet Holdings and Life360 with losses of 6.4 and 4.9 per cent respectively.

This followed news that the companies will be removed from the ASX 200 on 19 September 2022. This means funds that track the ASX 200 will have to sell their positions by this date.

Other companies that will be removed from the ASX 200 include EML Payments, City Chic Collective and Janus Henderson Group.

The companies joining the ASX 200 index on 19 September are Lovisa Holdings, Sayona Mining and Spark New Zealand. Lovisa and Spark rallied on this news with jumps of 4.0 and 1.5 per cent respectively.

Sayona's share price remained unchanged. Australia's job advertisements bounced back with a 2.0 per cent increase in August. This brought the total number of job ads to 242,301.

Melbourne Institute's Inflation estimate presented a 0.5 per cent decline in August, which was largely driven by falling fuel prices.

• 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.

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/.
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