Pre-Open Data
Key Data for the Week
Australian Market
The Australian sharemarket ended in stark contrast to the previous day, as the ASX 200 posted its best day since March, up 1.5%. The majority of Monday’s losses were regained, as concerns were eased regrading the possibility of US interest rate rises.
The Financials sector led the way after being heavily sold off on Monday to rise 2.0%. Commonwealth Bank closed above $100 per share again after adding 2.2%, while ANZ, Westpac and NAB all gained between 1.2% and 2.2%. After sliding more than 5.0% on Monday, Bank of Queensland recouped most of these losses to add 5.5%.
The Property sector also posted gains to close 2.0% higher, as Goodman Group lifted 1.9%, Dexus gained 2.0% and Scentre Group added 1.4%.
An increase in the price of crude oil sent energy stocks higher, as the sector improved 2.2%. Market leader, Woodside Petroleum added 2.5%, while Santos and Beach Energy gained 3.2% and 3.1% respectively.
The Australian futures market points to a 0.07% fall today.
Overseas Markets
European sharemarkets closed higher on Tuesday, as stable commodity prices benefitted the Materials and Energy sectors. Mining stocks added 1.3% as London-listed BHP gained 1.3%, Glencore lifted 2.1% and Rio Tinto closed 1.5% higher. By the close of trade, the UK FTSE 100 lifted 0.4% and the STOXX Europe 600 added 0.3%, while the German DAX improved 0.2%.
US sharemarkets lifted overnight as the NASDAQ closed at a record high, as a result of a shift back into growth stocks. Microsoft’s market value touched the US$2 trillion mark in the day’s trade to close 1.1% higher. The Information Technology sector was the best performer on the markets, as Spotify lifted 3.3% and Amazon added 1.5%, while Fortinet improved 1.7%. In the Health Care sector, Moderna jumped 6.3% after news broke the European Union decided to take up a supply contract to order 150 million COVID vaccines.
By the close of trade, the Dow Jones rose 0.2% and the NASDAQ gained 0.8%, while the S&P 500 lifted 0.5%.
CNIS Perspective
Australia has lagged the developed world in Electric Vehicle (EV) adoption. However, yesterday’s NSW Budget was one of the first signs of the beginning of a major shift in government policy.
Yesterday, the state set an ambitious target where 50% of all new cars sales will be electric by 2030. Considering current EV sales make up just 0.7% of sales, there is a long way to go over the next 8.5 years!
For consumers, rebates and stamp duty waivers will reduce the cost of EV’s relative to internal combustion engines. However, while incentives to purchase go some way towards making EV prices more competitive, infrastructure needs to be put in place to make these targets achievable.
The $171.0 million investment set aside in the Budget for ultra-fast charging infrastructure over the next four years will go some way to achieving this by installing chargers every 100km along NSW highways and every 5km on Sydney roads.
The adoption of EV’s across the globe is one of the major thematical changes occurring this decade, and while Australia lags the developed world, the catch-up is on its way.
Should you wish to discuss this or any other investment related matter, please contact your Investment Services Team on (02) 4928 8500.
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