Pre-Open Data
Key Data for the Week
- Monday – UK – Rightmove House Prices
- Monday – CHINA – Industrial Production
- Tuesday – EUR – Gross Domestic Product
- Tuesday – UK – ILO Unemployment Rate
- Tuesday – AUS – RBA Board Meeting Minutes
- Wednesday – AUS – Wage Price Index
- Wednesday – EUR – Consumer Price Index
- Wednesday – UK – Consumer Price Index
- Thursday – AUS – Unemployment Rate
- Friday – JAPAN – Consumer Price Index
- Friday – UK – Retail Sales
Australian Market
The Australian sharemarket had a positive finish to the week, as it advanced 1.9% on Friday. Gains were broad based, with all sectors closing higher. The Information Technology sector rebounded 6.9% to be the strongest performer, while the Health Care and REITs sectors both added 3.0%. Despite Friday’s gains, the ASX 200 still gave up 1.8% over the week.
Mining heavyweights posted gains; Rio Tinto added 2.1%, while Fortescue Metals and BHP both lifted 2.0%. Gold miners weakened; Evolution Mining slipped 0.6% and Newcrest Mining fell 0.5%, however, Northern Star Resources bucked the trend to add 0.4%.
Biotechnology giant CSL Limited boosted the Health Care sector as it closed up 3.3%. Ramsay Health Care gained 0.2% and Sonic Healthcare rose 2.5%, while Cochlear closed 2.9% higher.
All the major banks finished the session higher; NAB, Westpac and ANZ all added between 0.9% and 1.0%, while Commonwealth Bank eked out a 0.1% gain. Fund managers also enjoyed gains; Magellan Financial Group climbed 7.3% and Challenger lifted 3.4%, while Australian Ethical Investment added 3.1%.
The Australian futures market points to a 0.76% rise today, led higher by overseas sharemarkets.
Overseas Markets
European sharemarkets finished higher on Friday. The Travel and Leisure sector advanced; easyJet added 0.6% and International Airlines Group rose 0.7%, while Lufthansa posted a 1.7% gain. Property stocks rebounded; Safestore rose 4.4% and SEGRO lifted 3.0%, while Vonovia added 0.2%.
By the close of trade, the STOXX Europe 600 and German DAX both closed up 2.1%, while the UK FTSE 100 added 2.6%.
US sharemarkets also climbed higher on Friday. The Information Technology sector was amongst the top performers, up 3.4%. NVIDIA jumped 9.5% and Netflix added 7.7%, while Fortinet and Apple rose 5.6% and 3.2% respectively. However, social networking platform Twitter shed 9.7%, after Elon Musk stated his Twitter takeover deal is currently on hold. The Consumer Discretionary sector outperformed, boosted by a 5.6% gain in Amazon and a 5.7% lift in Tesla. Renewable energy stocks posted gains; Enphase Energy jumped 12.0% and ChargePoint Holdings climbed 8.0%, while NextEra Energy closed 1.9% higher.
By the close of trade, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 added 1.5% and 2.4% respectively, while the NASDAQ lifted 3.8%. However, over the week, the NASDAQ gave up 2.8% and the S&P 500 fell 2.4%, while the Dow Jones eased 2.1%.
CNIS Perspective
The price of European natural gas continues to temper with the futures market easing to €102 per megawatt-hour on Friday, as concerns over Russian supplies calmed.
The European Commission noted that the market continues to have alternatives and that current stockpiles are enough to last through 2022, aided by ongoing ample LNG supplies and warmer weather.
The reduction even followed German economic sanctions against 3% of Russian supplies via their subsidiary Gazprom Germania.
This short-term volatility in energy markets was captured by Saudi Aramco’s first quarter results, which saw the company overtake Apple as the world’s most valuable company on the back of 82% profit growth.
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