Australian & New Zealand Market Movers
The New Zealand market (NZX 50 Index, +0.4%) rose marginally on Tuesday.
Pushpay (-1.7%) fell after the company omitted to provide details concerning the takeover bids it was fielding. On Monday, Pushpay climbed +3.5% before being placed in a trading halt.
Sky Network Television (+5.2%) surged, correcting for the -5.0% selloff the stock experienced yesterday after announcing it had sold its RugbyPass streaming platform and secured the rights to the World Rugby through to 2029.
Retail spending for September rose +1.4%, likely due to the reopening of NZ’s borders. Consumer Discretionary (-0.7%) and Consumer Staples (-0.3%) both fell on the day, with the Warehouse Group (-1.6%) leading the former sector down.
The Australian market (ASX 200 Index, -0.3%) fell marginally, with all sectors in the red except Industrials (+0.4%) and Utilities (+0.1%).
Australian bonds continued to sell-off Tuesday, with 10-year bonds climbing 11 basis points to break above 4.0% before falling to its current level of 3.98%. As such, IT (-1.0%) was one of the worst performing sectors on the day, only outdone by Energy (-1.6%).
The big news of the day involved Telstra (+0.3%) shareholders approving the company’s proposal to restructure into four separate entities for the purpose of realising more accurate valuations of its assets, especially those of its InfraCo business.
Europe and US Market Movers
European markets (Stoxx 600 Index, -0.6%) fell for a fifth consecutive day on Tuesday. All sectors closed lower, with Chemicals (-2.5%) performing the worst and Retail (+0.8%) performing the best.
The Bank of England announced it will expand its emergency bond-buying into index-linked gilts to ensure stability in the country’s bond market.
US markets (S&P 500 Index -0.7%) gave up early gains to cement a five-day losing streak. Sector performance was mixed, with Communications Services (-1.6%) and Technoloy (-1.5%) leading losses, while Real Estate (+1.0%) and Consumer Staples (+0.9%) leading gains.
Before the key US inflation report due Friday, attention will turn to the US producer price report due tomorrow morning (1:30am) NZ time.
Uber (NYSE: UBER)
Uber (-10.4%) shares cratered on Tuesday trading after the US Labor Department released it proposal to reclassify gig workers as employees. As it stands, drivers for Uber are classified as independent contractors meaning that Uber can avoid providing its drivers with benefits such as healthcare and overtime pay.
Uber’s argument that its drivers prefer the flexible schedules afforded to independent contractors has thus far won over US courts and lawmakers. However, the new proposal from the Labour Department may make it harder for companies that rely on gig workers for “integral” parts of the business to …
Other gig-reliant stocks felt the brunt of new proposal, with Lyft (-12.0%) and DoorDash (-6.0%) down significantly on the day.
What Markets will be Watching this Week (UTC +13)
Monday
US NFIB Small Business Optimism
Tuesday
AU Westpac Consumer Confidence Index OCT
AU NAB Business Confidence SEP
Wednesday
GB BoE Gov Bailey Speech
Thursday
US PPI MoM SEP
US FOMC Minutes
NZ Food Inflation YoY SEP
Friday
US Inflation Rate YoY SEP
NZ Business NZ PMI SEP