All sectors were in the red, notably, consumer staples and utilities fell 2.0 and 1.8 per cent each, respectively.
Headlines were led by reports of fresh layoffs within the tech industry, as Microsoft (-1.2 per cent) and Amazon (unchanged) announced job cuts of tens of thousands of staff to compensate for reduced revenues as digital advertisers cut back on advertising spend against the inflationary and potentially recessionary environment.
Specifically, Microsoft will shed 10,000 jobs, almost 5 per cent of its workforce, and Amazon close to 18,000 employees. To no surprise, the S&P tech sector lost 0.7 per cent at the time of writing.
Logistics company J B Hunt Transport Services moved 4.6 per cent higher after releasing a positive set of fourth-quarter results. Other outperformers were tech company Qualcomm (+2.5 per cent) and healthcare company Moderna (+2.4 per cent), the latter well-known for its production of Covid-19 vaccines.
Rest of the World
The Bank of Japan went against market expectations by keeping its cash rate unchanged at -0.1 per cent, while also maintaining a 0.5 per cent cap for its 10-year bond yield.
These developments were a surprise given the country faces a highly inflationary environment, causing the yen to fall nearly 2 per cent against the US dollar when first announced.
Japanese equities also reacted in the opposite direction as the Nikkei closed 2.5 per cent higher at 26,791.1 points.
UK inflation data was supportive for equities, with the annual rate falling to 10.5 per cent in December, coming off a 41-year high 10.7 per cent in November as well as being slightly below expectations.
Commodities
As has been the trend this week, oil continued to move higher in line with optimism for a Chinese recovery, now above US$86 per barrel, while gold slipped on US dollar strength.
The usually volatile cryptocurrencies were mostly timid this morning, Bitcoin and Ethereum finding 1.6 and 2.1 per cent gains at the time of writing.
New Zealand
New Zealand equities nudged 0.2 per cent higher despite a raft of pessimistic economic data released throughout the day.
Top performances from large caps Mainfreight (+2.2 per cent) and Fisher & Paykel (+1.9 per cent) helped buoy the market.
Real Estate Institute of New Zealand house pricing data was out for the month of December 2022, with prices continuing their negative trajectory to fall 1.2 per cent (-1.9 in November), contributing to a current peak-to-trough decline of 15 per cent since their November 2021 peak.
All regions except Taranaki and Northland published a decline in December year-on-year, with Wellington remaining the weak spot as prices are now down 20.2 per cent in the last 12 months, compared to Auckland (-18.0 per cent) and the country as a whole (-12.2 per cent).
Credit card spending statistics were also supportive of an economy slowing down, with Stats NZ’s monthly spending using debit, credit and charge cards falling by an adjusted 2.5 per cent in December from November 2022.
Consumers were seemingly listening to advice from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand governor Adrian Orr, who warned consumers to spend sensibly over Christmas following a 75-basis point increase in interest rates at the end of November 2022.
Australia
The S&P/ASX200 traded mildly higher, up 0.1 per cent by the end of Wednesday’s trading to 7393.4 points.
Strong performers included healthcare company Telix Pharmaceuticals, which surged 8.6 per cent higher on the back of strong fourth quarter revenue data. More notable winners on the ASX200 were Sayona Mining (+8.9 per cent) and Block Inc (+4.6 per cent).
Other stock specific news included Nickel Industries going into a trading halt after announcing it would undertake an equity raise of up to US$471m. Proceeds of the raise would be used to participate in multiple Nickel and Nickel-Cobalt projects.
Fintech and wealth advisory company HUB24 lost 4.8 per cent to chair the Wednesday’s loser’s podium. On Tuesday, HUB reported softer than anticipated net funds under administration (FUA) inflows for the second quarter, leading to a commensurately light total FUA number of A$55.8bn, below market expectations.
Gold Road Resources and Capricorn Metals joined HUB24, declining 4.6 and 4.5 per cent, respectively.
Coming up today
More macroeconomic data out of the US will come in the form of Initial Jobless Claims, Housing Starts and Building Permits. Closer to home, Australia will release employment data, with NZX listed Michael Hill Jeweller reporting a second quarter update.
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All market pricing and announcements are sourced from Refinitiv, NZX and ASX.
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All market pricing and announcements are sourced from Refinitiv, NZX and ASX.
