Cinema software company, Vista Group International, was the best performer of the day, rallying 4.4 per cent, followed by Restaurant Brands, increasing 1.8 per cent.
The market reacted favourably to Vital Healthcare Property Trust's full-year result, pushing the share price 1.9 per cent higher. The company managed to achieve a 27.7 per cent total return for shareholders over the last 12 months, beating out the S&P/NZX REIT Index by 7.4 per cent.
Medical device producer Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was the worst performer of the session for the second day in a row, decreasing a further 2.8 per cent.
Mercury NZ was next in line after a volatile week, decreasing 2.6 per cent.
Rounding out the bottom performers was donor-management system provider, Pushpay Holdings, dropping 2.4 per cent.
The Government has shared its plans for a risk-based approach in order to gradually open up the borders from early 2022 onwards. Assigning risk categories to travellers is meant to determine what treatment those travellers will receive upon arrival, including whether they need to isolate or not. This will also depend on their vaccination status.
International
US
US markets were mixed this morning with the S&P 500 trading up 0.2 per cent again, the DJIA decreasing by 0.1 per cent, and the NASDAQ up 0.2 per cent.
Health and technology stocks recovered from yesterday, being the top performers - rising 0.8 and 0.4 per cent, respectively. On the flip side, energy and materials were the worst-performing sectors, falling 1.0 and 0.4 per cent, respectively.
Organon & Co rose 12.6 per cent upon release of an earnings announcement. The pharmaceutical company reported earnings per share for the second quarter ended June 2021 at US$1.72, which exceeded the consensus estimates of US$1.42.
Cooper Companies rose 7.1 per cent. The medical device company reached a new 52-week high today.
Micron Technology was an underperformer, falling 7.1 per cent. The semiconductor chip company fell on speculation by some analysts that the memory chip industry could be entering a downturn – causing investors to sell off the stock. Computer parts manufacturer Western Digital Corp also fell 7.1 per cent in line with the sector selloff.
Asia
The key Asian Indexes were in the red overnight. The Nikkei (Japan) traded down 0.2 per cent, the Hang Seng (Hong Kong) declined by 0.5 per cent and the Shanghai Composite (China) lost yesterday's gains, declining by 0.2 per cent.
Commodities
Gold increased was flat at US$1,753.40 per ounce. Oil was trading 0.4 per cent lower at US$69.00 per barrel.
In cryptocurrency, Bitcoin fell 4.4 per cent and Ethereum slumped 6.2 per cent at the time of writing.
Finally, the US 10-year treasury bond rate was yielding 1.357 per cent.
Australia
Australian equities traded lower at yesterdays close with the S&P/ASX 200 finishing the day at 7,575.5 points, down 0.1 per cent.
Outperforming sectors include consumer cyclicals and technology which made gains of 0.7 and 0.5 per cent, respectively.
Sector gains were buoyed by impressive performances from both GrainCorp Ltd and QBE Insurance Group which traded up 11.3 and 8.0 per cent, respectively. Agribusiness company GrainCorp updated its earnings guidance ahead of their full year result in November, whilst QBE insurance published its half year earnings which were a material beat on consensus estimates.
In contrast, downward pressure on indices was drawn from sector losses of educational services (down 2.0 per cent) and utilities (down 1.5 per cent).
The day's underperforming stocks were fronted by online print products company Redbubble Ltd, which fell 7.9 per cent ahead of next week's full year results. A 6.9 per cent fall in share price from mining giant Rio Tinto as the company went ex-dividend. This however, weighed down on overall index performance as the ASX 200 is calculated on a price only basis (as opposed to the NZX, which factors in dividends).
In other news, National Australia Bank (NAB) was amongst Thursday's headlines as reporting season starts to shape the Australian market headlines. Investors seemed to react favourably to a A$2.5 billion share buy back at a price of around $27.00, 1.4 times the last book value. A share buy-back is one way to return cash to investors (other than paying dividends), with Australia' s Commonwealth Bank also announcing a A$6bn buy back of its own on Wednesday.
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Disclaimer: This Morning Brief has been prepared in good faith and reflects opinions and views 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. This Morning 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 broker disclosure statement is available free of charge at www.jarden.co.nz. Jarden is not a registered bank in New Zealand. Full disclaimer available at: https://www.jarden.co.nz/limitations-and-disclaimera>
