The closure of New Zealand's borders has hurt the travel and tourism industries. Photo / NZME
Keeping you up to date with the latest market moves, in association with Investment firm Jarden
New Zealand
The NZX 50 was in the green and up 1.4 per cent yesterday.
Argosy Property rose 2.7 per cent and SkyCity Entertainment gained 2.6 per cent, both making partial recoveries on the first day in February following January declines.
Genesis Energy increased 2.6 per cent. Genesis recently announced the extension of its Sustainable Finance Programme with targets including reducing emissions and ramping up renewable energy generation.
On the flip side, utilities company Vector and retirement village operator Summerset were the bottom performers yesterday, both falling 1.0 per cent. Kiwi Property Group fell 0.4 per cent.
Trade data showed imports up 23 per cent outweighing a 13 per cent rise in exports for December 2021. The trade balance was a $477m deficit for the month, ending the year with a record $6.7bn deficit (value of exports-value of imports).
The OECD biennial economic survey of NZ highlighted that strong fiscal and monetary stimulus helped the economy recover more quickly than expected from the Covid-induced decline in 2020, crediting the elimination strategy for preventing deaths and helping insulate the economy. Major labour market indicators are now stronger than before the pandemic. However, inflation is at 5.9 per cent and expected to go higher before potentially easing over the next 12 to 18 months.
Many New Zealanders will be eagerly awaiting the release of Cabinet's plans on border reopening tomorrow. The tourism and travel sectors, in particular, have been heavily impacted by the extended Covid-19 border restrictions.
International
US
US markets are trading lower this morning to start February, with January being the S&P 500's worst month since March 2020. The S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones Industrial Average have all slipped 0.1 per cent each on the back of seemingly underwhelming earnings announcements across the board.
At the time of writing, leading sectors comprise of both energy and industrials, making gains of 3.3 and 0.9 per cent respectively.
Earnings were a factor on both sides of the market, and United Parcel Service (UPS) led the way with a strong performance so far at the time of writing, up a staggering 14.4 per cent. Earnings of US$3.59 per share on revenue of US$27.77bn topped market expectations by some margin, leading to a complete reversal after UPS was down 5.0 per cent through January's trading.
Similarly, mining products company Mosaic Co and agricultural chemical's company CF Industries extended gains of 8.0 and 7.5 per cent to round off the single stock winners podium this morning, both contributing to the overall energy and industrial sector movements.
On the flip side, utilities (down 1.9 per cent) and real estate (down 0.7 per cent) were the laggard sectors at the time of writing.
Weighing down index performance was Broadbridge Financial Solutions (-5.0 per cent), telecommunications company AT&T (-4.2 per cent,) and electrical solutions company Trane Technologies (-3.1 per cent). Broadbridge and Trane's stocks were impacted by earnings announcements, with Broadbridge's second quarter earnings of 83 cents per share considered under par by investors. Meanwhile, Trane published full year 2022 earnings guidance on Monday, which was received poorly - followed with a range of broker downgrades overnight. Lastly, AT&T announced it would spin off its interest in WarnerMedia to industry competitor Discovery, with reports that the deal is expected to close in early 2022.
Rest of the World
Many of the followed Asian indices did not trade overnight as markets were closed for Chinese New Year celebrations. However, the Japanese Nikkei remained open, increasing by 0.3 per cent.
Commodities
Amongst commonly tracked commodities, gold, silver and copper all pushed higher by 0.5, 1.5, and 2.1 per cent, with gold now trading at US$1,805.6 per ounce. WTI Crude oil dipped off recent highs, down 0.4 per cent to US$87.8 per barrel amidst another OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) meeting this week. The US 10-year treasury yield remained steady at 1.81 per cent.
Lastly, Crypto currencies nudged ahead with Bitcoin rising 1.6 per cent to US$39,087, while Ethereum followed suit with its own 4.4 per cent gain to US$2,800 at the time of writing.
Australia
The ASX 200 finished Tuesday's trading session slightly higher (+0.5 per cent), after several macroeconomic datapoints were released yesterday. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept the cash rate at 0.1 per cent and terminated its A$350 billion bond buying program. Some in the market expected early rate hikes, but it seems like the RBA is taking a more dovish approach.
Retail sales data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that annual sales for 2021 rose 4.8 per cent year on year, although the monthly sales for December decreased by 4.4 per cent.
The Markit Economics Manufacturing PMI for January came in at a score of 55.1, which is slightly below the 57.7 in December, but still shows an expansion of the manufacturing sector.
10 out of 11 sectors closed in the green, with utilities (+2.6 per cent) and information technology (+2.4 per cent) booking the biggest gains. The only sector underperforming on Tuesday was materials, decreasing 1.2 per cent.
The single stock best performer on the ASX 200 was linguistics services provider Appen, rising 7.9 per cent, continuing Monday's upwards trend.
Closely behind was global asset manager Pendal Group, increasing 7.3 per cent, slightly reversing last week's downward trend.
Rounding out the leader board was Imugene Limited, closing 6.5 per cent higher. The clinical stage immuno-oncology company announced on Monday it was granted a core Japanese patent in the major oncology market, protecting its oncolytic virotherapy CF33.
On the flip side, mineral explorer, producer, and processor BHP Group was the top decliner on Tuesday, down 3.1 per cent.
Brambles also underperformed, decreasing 2.5 per cent. The logistics company continued the downward trend which it has been facing since the start of the year, likely due to continued Covid-19 implications.
Lastly, precious metal miner Rio Tinto was down 2.4 per cent.
• For more information on the latest market moves, get in touch with Jarden.
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