Nine out of the 11 S&P 500 sectors traded lower with utilities (-2.3 per cent) and energy (-2.1 per cent) dragging the share market lower. Healthcare (+1.0 per cent) and financials (+0.9 per cent) were the only two sectors showing green.
Multinational computer software company Adobe slumped 17.0 per cent at the time of writing, following news that it will acquire design software firm Figma.
The deal is expected to be worth around US$20 billion in cash and stock. Adobe announced fiscal third-quarter earnings of US$3.40 per share, adjusted.
Lithium producer Albermarle was down 5.0 per cent, reverting from its positive start of the week.
Healthcare company West Pharmaceutical Services is rounding out the bottom performers at the time of writing, falling 4.9 per cent.
Leading the single stock movers was health insurance firm Humana, up 9.0 per cent at the time of writing. The company adjusted its earnings guidance for the fiscal year, increasing earnings per share to approximately US$23.08 compared to its previous estimate of US$20.30. Humana also elected a new member to the company's Board of Directors.
Gambling stock Wynn Resorts rose 8.0 per cent at the time of writing.
Global streaming service firm, Netflix, joined the top three performers, up 7.0 per cent.
This followed news of its plans to unfold an ad-supported service and constrain password sharing.
In macroeconomic news, investors processed several economic reports. Initial jobless claims continued a trend of falling unemployment, dropping to 213,000.
Retail sales rose 0.3 per cent in August, but the data showed downside revisions to the prior month's number.
Other data showed factory production in August rose slightly, while total industrial production fell. This follows an earlier report this week showing inflation increased 0.1 per cent in August.
Rest of the World
European markets closed mixed overnight. The FTSE was up 0.1 per cent whilst the DAX and the CAC dropped 0.6 per cent and 1.0 per cent respectively.
Asian markets were also mixed, with the Shanghai Composite falling 1.2 per cent, compared to the Nikkei (+0.2 per cent) and the Hang Seng (+0.4 per cent).
Commodities
WTI Crude Oil was down 3.7 per cent at the time of writing, to US$85.17 per barrel.
Gold also traded lower, falling 2.0 per cent to US$1,674.6 per ounce.
Cryptocurrency markets were largely in the red, with Bitcoin down 0.6 per cent and Ethereum declining 5.7 per cent.
At the time of writing the US 10-Year Treasury rate had risen three basis points to 3.445 per cent.
New Zealand
The NZX 50 was flat yesterday, marginally up 0.01 per cent to 11,658.9 points.
Transport software company Eroad was the top performer of the index, improving 5.0 per cent. This movement did not appear to be related to any news.
Retail company The Warehouse Group also performed well, building on Wednesday's performance, lifting 3.6 per cent. The company will release its 2022 full year results on 28 September.
Rounding out the top movers was NZX Limited, rising 3.3 per cent.
Donor management software firm Pushpay Holdings was the biggest underperformer of the index, reducing 10.6 per cent, now down 15.9 per cent year to date.
Fletcher Building also underperformed, decreasing 3.8 per cent yesterday, now 27.4 per cent lower year to date.
Closing out the bottom movers was Spark, falling 3.5 per cent, but still up 14.9 per cent year to date.
New Zealand Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 1.7 per cent higher for the 2022 June quarter, recovering from the 0.2 per cent decline in the March quarter.
Statistics New Zealand highlighted the services industries as the main contributor, improving 2.7 per cent. This was driven by surging demand after Covid restrictions.
Australia
The ASX 200 was up 0.2 per cent yesterday, closing at 6,842.9 points. Over the past five days of trading, the index has remained effectively unchanged, though is down 8.1 per cent since the beginning of the year.
The energy and financial sectors gained 3.7 and 1.1 per cent, respectively. The largest losses were seen in real estate investment trusts, health care, and utilities, all of which fell 0.9 per cent.
Leading the market was coal mining company Coronado Global Resources, up 9.1 per cent. The stock price has increased 43.4 per cent in the year to date. Coal mining companies New Hope and Whitehaven Coal followed with gains of 6.0 and 4.6 per cent, respectively.
Conversely, lithium extraction company Lake Resources continued its fall, down a further 12.7 per cent. Investors may be reacting to news of disagreement surrounding target deadlines with U.S partner Lilac Solutions.
It is reported that Lakehouse believes Lilac had until 30 September to fulfil milestones in return for a 25 per cent stake in the Argentinian Kachi lithium project. Lilac considered it had an additional two months.
Also seeing falls in share prices were mining firm South32 (-7.4 per cent), and retail clothing company City Chic Collective (-6.2 per cent).
On Thursday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced the unemployment rate rose slightly, from 3.4 per cent in July to 3.5 per cent in August.
The Reserve Bank of Australia has announced four consecutive 50 basis point rate increases. The rise in unemployment has led some analysts to forecast the slowing down of continued interest rate hikes from the central bank, with many expecting a rate increase of just 25 basis points.
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All market pricing and announcements are sourced from Refinitiv, NZX and ASX.
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