Jarden Brief: US indices return to green for first time in a week

The markets have been hit hard by the crisis in Ukraine. Photo / Getty Images

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

New Zealand

The NZX returned to the green yesterday, finishing up 0.3 per cent at 11,785.13 points.

Although the index had a midday dip, it was able to recover and go against the global trend following Wall Street's fall the previous day.

Seafood company Sanford was yesterday's top performer, rising 3.4 per cent. Cancer diagnostics company Pacific Edge and Spark also performed well, increasing 2.4 per cent and 2.0 per cent, respectively.

Mercury Energy led yesterday's underperformers, falling 3.1 per cent. Transport technology and services company EROAD experienced a decline of 2.8 per cent. Film industry technology provider Vista Group International rounded out yesterday's bottom movers, decreasing 2.7 per cent.

Yesterday, ANZ agricultural economists raised their forecast for milk prices. In these new forecasts, ANZ lifted its current season farmgate milk price estimate to $9.70 per kilogram of milk solids. The milk price for the 2022-23 season is also now estimated to be $9.30, which is a 90-cent increase from the previous forecast. These current high dairy prices are predicted to remain for an extended period. Factors influencing this change include a reduction in global production, with the conflict in Ukraine applying greater pressure to international commodity markets.

There has been speculation that a merger of TVNZ and RNZ will be announced around noon today. Media have been reporting, according to sources, that cabinet has signed off on the disestablishment of both organisations to create a new entity.

The NZD was supported by higher domestic rates and remained relatively steady around US 0.68 cents.

International
US

For the first time this week, all major US indices were in the green at the time of writing. The S&P 500 was up 2.2 per cent, the NASDAQ was up 2.8 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.8 per cent.

Almost all sectors increased with the biggest gains coming from financials (+3.7 per cent), technology (+3.1 percent) and consumer discretionary (+2.6 per cent). The only two declining sectors were energy and utilities which dropped 1.5 and 0.2 per cent respectively.

Online dating provider Match Group Inc (owner of Tinder, among other dating sites) had the largest gain at the time of writing with a jump of 12.7 per cent. Tinder announced criminal background checks would be available on the platform.

Gaming and hospitality company Caesars Entertainment rose 9.9 per cent. This follows Caesars Entertainment announcing the launch of mobile sports betting within the state of Illinois.

Rounding out the top three gainers was modern luxury accessories and lifestyle brands provider Tapestry Inc, with an increase of 9.2 per cent. This movement follows many other luxury clothing brands as they experience partially recover from recent share price dips, with investor confidence in the sector seemingly increasing.

The largest decrease came from energy manufacturer Phillips 66, which dropped 4.8 per cent at the time of writing. Phillips 66 announced that oil refineries will need to find a way to mitigate carbon emissions, which could suggest innovation of current technology will be required.

After increasing more than 16.0 per cent in the previous two days, oil and natural gas provider Halliburton Company dropped 4.1 per cent. This was driven by oil prices dropping for the first time in four trading days.

Continuing the energy decreases, hydrogen and nitrogen manufacturer CF Industries Holdings fell 4.5 per cent. CF Industries Holdings' share price remains over 28.0 per cent up from the start of the year.

Rest of the World

All major Asian indices experienced drops with the Shanghai Composite down 1.1 per cent, the Nikkei falling 0.3 per cent and the Hang Seng down 0.7 per cent.

Conversely, all European indices were in the green at the time of writing. The FTSE increased 2.8 per cent while the DAX and the CAC jumped 7.1 per cent.

The Russian Ruble has opened for trade on Russia's major exchange MOEX after being closed for several days.

Commodities

The London Metal Exchange (LME) suspended nickel trading after unprecedented price increases. Nickel climbed over 90 per cent in 48 hours amidst supply concerns. Nickel is used for the manufacturing of steel and batteries, and to power various portable devices and electric vehicles.

WTI Crude Oil and Brent Crude Oil decreased 11.4 and 12.3 per cent respectively at the time of writing. Easing off recent highs. Both oils remain over 40% up from the start of the year.

Gold decreased 2.6 per cent at the time of writing to US$1,990.70.

The U.S 10-year treasury rate jumped another five basis points, bringing it to 1.924 per cent.

Bitcoin and Ethereum rose 9.9 and 7.8 per cent respectively. Protocol stabilizer Terra jumped 24.6 per cent, increasing its market capitalization to US$37.6 billion (up over US$7 billion).

Australia

The ASX 200 recovered some ground from the start of the week, rising 1.0 per cent to 7,053.00 yesterday. This takes the index to a 4.2 per cent loss over the last 52 weeks.

All 11 sectors finished in the green. Information technology (+3.2 per cent) and telecommunication services (+2.4 per cent) were the leaders, followed by consumer discretionary (+1.8 per cent) and financial (+1.5 per cent).

Biotechnology company Mesoblast continued its gain from Tuesday, increasing 17.0 per cent. Despite the rise, Mesoblast remains 52 per cent below its 52-week high. Paladin Energy (+10.0 per cent) and battery materials and technology company NOVONIX (+8.3 per cent) were the other top performers of the day.

Nickel Mines continued its poor performance from Tuesday, dropping a further 4.7 per cent. The company announced a temporary pause to trading as it prepared a response to a Price Query Letter from the ASX. After the pause there was a surge of trading with daily volume closing at 212 million compared to an average of 11 million. Building materials company Boral (-3.3 per cent) and software company Altium (-3.0 per cent) were both in the red yesterday.

Aristocrat Leisure, a gaming machine manufacturer, was up 4.0 per cent following an update of any potential impacts of the situation in Ukraine and Russia on its business. The company said it is evacuating its 1000 staff in Ukraine, and stated they do not expect a material impact on earnings as a result of the crisis.

The Reserve Bank of Australian mentioned that a rate hike was plausible this year at the Australian Financial Review Business Summit yesterday. Governor Philip Lowe said there was both a risk of waiting too long to raise rates and going too early. He also stated, "We can be patient in a way that countries with substantially higher rates of inflation cannot."

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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