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New Zealand
The S&P NZ50 was flat across trading on Thursday. Utilities and Consumer Non-Cyclicals were the best performing sectors on the day, up 1.4 and 1.1 per cent respectively. On the other hand, Technology and Financials were the worst-performing sectors on the day, down 2.1 and 1.7 per cent respectively.
Market operator NZX continued its positive momentum, up a further 5.1 per cent, as did Sky Network Television, also rising another 5.0 per cent. Beneficiary of post-vaccine optimism Vista group was the worst performer of the day, down 4.0 per cent. Aquaculture company Sanford was the next worst performer on the day, down 3.6 per cent.
Sanford reported its Full year 2020 results on Thursday morning. Revenue of $469 million was down 11 per cent on the 2019 financial year and net profit after tax was down 46 per cent. The business has attributed the poor performance entirely to Covid-19 and its impact on the food service industry.
Acting CEO Andre Gariulo has said that by changing its sales tactics, to facilitate more consumer facing sales, Sanford has a path to increased profitability in the coming financial year. Sanford remains down 36.3 per cent year to date. This may represent an opportunity for investors who believe Sanford stands a chance of returning to the levels of performance it was achieving before Covid-19 struck.
New Zealand will learn today if the recently discovered community transmission of Covid-19 in Auckland central will translate into any further lockdown measures for Aucklanders or for the wider country.
The reimposition of restrictions is likely to be bad news for casino operator Skycity along with the range of businesses that benefited from the Vaccine announcement earlier in the week.
International
US Markets:
Wall Street has retreated some of its gain made throughout the week. At time of writing, the SPX500 was down 1.1 per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial was down 1.2 per cent while the Nasdaq performed slightly better down 0.7 per cent. Small stocks underperformed, with the SPX Midcap 400 down 0.7 per cent.
Healthcare was the only industry in the green, posting a measly 0.1 per cent. Financials and Basic Materials were the worst-performing sectors on the day, down 1.4 and 1.1 per cent respectively.
Precision instrument supplier Mettler-Toledo was the best performing stock on the day, up 2.6 per cent. The rise comes after financial institution D.A. Davidson increased their holdings in the company.
News and entertainment giant Fox Corp was the worst-performing stock on the market, down 5.7 per cent. The fall comes as Trump criticised the network for treating him unfairly during the election. Trump is urging viewers to switch away from Fox and is reportedly considering creating his own news network to compete with the company.
Asian markets:
At time of writing, the Nikkei 225 was the best performing index in Asia up 0.7 per cent. The Shanghai Index was down 0.1 per cent while the Shenzhen index up 0.4 per cent.
Beijing's long-term quest for greater regional cooperation looks set to take a big step forward. Fifteen Asia-Pacific nations will look to finalise the world's largest free trade agreement this weekend. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will reduce tariffs and strengthen supply chains which includes Australia and New Zealand.
The US having pulled out of TPP negotiations under the Trump administration, may be a loser in this arrangement as pacific oriented countries solidify economic relations which may subvert US markets.
Commodities:
At time of writing, Gold was up 0.9 per cent, trading at US$1881.1 per ounce. WTI Crude was up 1.4 per cent, trading at US$41.8 per barrel. The ten-year treasury yield was down to 0.90 per cent.
Australia
The ASX 200 fell 0.5 per cent yesterday, breaking five consecutive days of gains.
Despite strong performance in the morning session, gains were erased by sell-offs in the financial sector, with large-cap banks CBA down 1.8 per cent, NAB down 2.4 per cent and Westpac down 1.9 per cent creating a drag on index performance.
Small cap aquatics specialist Phoslock Environmental Technologies remained in halt after it confirmed the existence of fraudulent activities in its China office. The company identified false accounting, falsification of invoices/service contracts and improper tax reporting, amongst a number of other improper activities.
Phoslock accepted the resignations of its deputy chairman and a non-executive director in September and have now begun reviewing the apparent operational issues within the firm.
Despite early signs last week of the market accepting Blue Orcas thesis on Seek, the jobs-listing company hit record highs in yesterday's trading, reaching A$25.07.
Xero also soared slightly above A$130 on open, after recording a historic 21 per cent revenue growth to NZ$409.8m during the first six months of its financial year. However, similar to Wednesday the share price clawed back a lot of the gains in the afternoon session, to only end up 0.6 per cent.
Coming up
Australia
Coming off a volatile week, post-Pfizers vaccine announcement, NextDC will be holding its AGM today.
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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-disclaimer