Despite large equity fluctuations after results were released, Europe and US indices remained stable. In Australasia, Asian indices were mixed, whilst ANZ was closed with Thursday's public holiday.
Little movement in US indices despite market activity
The Dow and the S&P 500 fell by -0.8% and -0.4% respectively, whilst the Nasdaq rose +0.1%. Markets were primarily focussed on first quarter reporting season. A negative day for tech giants dragged the market as Meta plunged -10.6%, Google -2.0%, Amazon -2.1%, and Microsoft -2.6% as unfavourable predicted forecasts left investors unsatisfied. Airlines also saw red as Boeing's continued failure to deliver new aircraft pushed Southwest Airlines down -8.4%. In brighter news, mining giant Newmont beat Wall Street profit predictions which saw the stock gain +10.2%. In terms of fixed income securities, the US 2-year treasury bond yield jumped +6 bps to 4.995% and the 10-year +5bps to 4.704%.
Polarising results meant little overall impact on European/UK indices, consistent with US
The European Stoxx 600 slipped a mere -0.1% whilst the FTSE 100 gained +0.5%. Within the market, sentiment focussed particularly on the release of results. Positive reaction to Barclays' smaller-than-predicted drop in profit saw the stock surge +6.7%. Unilever also grew +5.7% after beating first quarter underlying sales forecasts. Despite reiterating its outlook on EPS, falling pharmaceuticals giant Sanofi surged +4.4%. However, it was not all positive, Nestle failed to impress with first quarter sales estimates resulting in a -3.4% share price drop. Outside of results, Anglo American soared +16.1% after BHP Group proposed a takeover that would see the final entity contribute to around 10% of global copper output.
Asia stalled, Australia and NZ closed for ANZAC holiday break
The TOPIX and the KOSPI indices fell -1.7% and -1.8%, respectively. Conversely, in China both the Shanghai Composite and the CSI 300 grew by +0.3% and the Hang Seng added +0.5%. The ASX 200 was closed for ANZAC day yesterday but was flat on Wednesday. Notably, despite weaker iron ore prices and soft quarterly production, Fortescue jumped +0.7% in a stagnant Wednesday for the general market. A disappointing March quarter that revealed a A$5.2b net outflow saw Perpetual fall -3.5%. Cleanaway Waste Management dropped -10.0% after speculation regarding a potential takeover by Seven Group Holdings was denied. Despite votes against its climate action plan and the Chair's re-election during the AGM, Woodside gained +0.5%. In New Zealand, the NZX 50 increased +1.2% on Wednesday but was then closed on Thursday in observance of ANZAC day. NZX market giant Fisher & Paykel surged +5.0% on Wednesday, putting the index on it's back.
Oil and Gold up, Iron down
WTI Crude added +1.1% to US$83.72/bbl, Gold increased +0.8% to US$2,335.29/oz, Iron Ore fell -0.4% to US$109.23/MT.
NZ Headlines
- Forsyth Barr upgraded its rating on listed healthcare company F&P Healthcare (FPH) from UNDERPERFORM to NEUTRAL after an in-depth look into its prospects for gaining market share in the huge global market for anaesthesia products.
Today's Events
- US personal income and spending (Mar 24)