Los Angeles in California, the USA's biggest manufacturing state. America's industrial production surged and capacity utilisation increased to 80 per cent, its highest level since 2000. Photo / 123RF
Keeping you up to date with the latest market moves, in association with Investment firm Jarden
International
US
US stocks continued to rally into the second day of the week with all the major indices finding gains greater than one per cent at the time of writing.
Macroeconomic data included US industrial production rising for the third month in a row, while capacity utilisation increased to 80 per cent, its highest level since 2000.
Travel stocks pushed higher amidst the more positive sentiment as cruise liners Carnival Corp, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean cruises held 12, 8.5 and 8.2 per cent gains at the time of writing, comprising three of the four best stocks.
The consumer cyclicals sector traded in line with the above at +1.7 per cent.
Aeronautical engineering company Lockheed Martin joined the cruise liners, finding a 9.3 per cent gain of its own following impressive third quarter earning's data, with management reaffirming guidance for the full year.
Stock specific news also included investment bank Goldman Sachs (+3.2 per cent), which reported a solid set of third quarter results above analyst expectations.
Facebook's parent company, Meta, have been ordered to sell animated image making unit, Giphy, after UK regulators issued a final verdict blocking a recent deal, citing potential lessening of competition in the social media advertising and imaginary space.
Giphy is said to be worth US$400m, as Meta trades down 0.4 per cent at the time of writing.
Stocks in the red were few and far between. However, Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer Moderna slipped 4.0 per cent as travel restrictions and other associated protection measures continue to ease across most of the world's major countries.
Moderna was trading at US$139.50 at the time of writing, less than a third of its lofty US$450 price tag set in September last year at the climax of the pandemic.
Rest of the World
European markets still appear to be heavily impacted by the day-to-day decision making of the new British Government, which has reversed multiple policies since first announcing a mini-budget just a few weeks ago.
The FTSE 100 is currently trading 0.2 per cent higher.
Asian indices were mixed overnight, although the Nikkei and Hang Seng posted 1.4 and 1.8 cent gains each.
Investors may be timid ahead of the outcome of the Chinese Communist Party Congress, where it is expected President Xi Jinping will be elected for a historic third term in the coming days.
Commodities
Gold held roughly unchanged at US$1,651.1 per ounce, while oil lost 1.5 per cent, landing at US$90.6 per barrel in the wake of US President Joe Biden confirming plans for an emergency oil release from the countries reserves to quell prices.
Crypto currencies were weaker against the stronger backdrop for equities, with Bitcoin and Ethereum both down 0.5 and 0.9 per cent over the last 24 hours.
New Zealand
The NZX 50 finished up 0.6 per cent at 10,847.4 points by the end of Tuesday's trading.
Markets reacted to domestic CPI data released before lunchtime.
September's quarterly print saw a rise in inflation of 2.2 per cent, much higher than consensus expectations for a rise of about 1.5 per cent. Annual inflation topped 7.2 per cent.
The main contributors to the quarterly increase were food prices at 4.1 per cent (buoyed by fruit and vegetable prices at 17.0 per cent) and transport services up 18 per cent (partly due to a sharp rise in the price of airfares).
In contrast, fuel took pressure off the inflation result, coming down from previous highs, as the transport supply category posted a 2.5 per cent fall.
With inflation running above what was previously anticipated, all eyes are on the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ). Several commentators emphasised that yesterday's CPI data could prompt the RBNZ to toss up the possibility of a 75-basis point increase in the Official Cash Rate at its November meeting.
Stock-specific news included positive trading updates from lender Harmoney (+5.4 per cent) and payment services provider Smartpay (+8.0).
Harmoney shareholders reacted to the company posting record loan originations in September and a cash net profit for the first quarter of their financial year, while Smartpay talked to ongoing customer acquisition acceleration flowing through to growth in transactional revenues.
Australia
Australian shares closed higher on Tuesday with the ASX 200 posting a 1.7 per cent gain as the market seemed to follow the more positive sentiment set in the US and UK on Tuesday morning (AEST).
The energy and materials sectors were front and centre following the NSW government announcing it had chosen Akaysha Energy (backed by US investment management company BlackRock) to build a large-scale battery, tipped to be the largest in the world, close to Origin Energy's Eraring power station.
The battery is set to play an important role in helping the state decarbonise after the planned shutdown of the Eraring coal station in 2025, which currently supplies roughly 20 per cent of the state's electricity needs.
Novonix, which provide materials in the production of lithium-ion batteries, appeared to be a beneficiary of this announcement and led the market up 18.9 per cent. Novonix shares opened at A$1.85, finishing the day above A$2.10.
Tech stocks also contributed to the wider market rally with a notable performer being fintech company HUB24 (+14.2 per cent), which positively surprised the market with its 1Q23 market update.
Key numbers included net inflows of A$3.0 billion along with total funds under management at A$68.4 billion. Other tech companies Block Inc and Megaport joined the top 10 movers of the index with 10.7 and 8.0 per cent increases, respectively.
On the other hand, St Barbara fell 21.6 per cent with its share price hitting a seven year low. The gold miner published quarterly production statistics and financials which were significantly below investor expectations, capping off a whirlwind day amongst energy and materials.
Coming up today
Domestically, Infratil hosts an investor day. In Australia, Origin Energy's AGM could be interesting following the Akaysha battery announcement.
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All market pricing and announcements are sourced from Refinitiv, NZX and ASX.
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Serko shares tumbled nearly 8% after the firm disclosed an impairment.