News

NZ Dollar weakness continues (with the NZD currently trading at 69.5 cents versus the USD) as RBNZ rate hike bets get eased post the Government housing policy that was announced Tuesday.

Global markets rebounded on Friday (S&P 500 index +1.7%) as Wall Street rallied into the close with technology, healthcare and financial stocks providing the biggest boost.

Investors evaluated the level of ripple effect from a forced block trade for financial markets, with bank shares falling sharply amid warnings of potential losses from a hedge fund’s default on margin calls.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index rose by 1.1% to a fresh record high, although the broader European ended the session higher is still just shy of the February 2000 peak.

The three major Wall Street indexes registered their fourth straight quarterly rise as investors looked forward to details of President Joe Biden’s massive infrastructure plan, as bets on a strong economic rebound supported Wall Street during the quarter 

the New Zealand Government introduced a new set of housing policies aimed to improve home ownership and target rental residential  investors

While the three major indexes closed lower, looking under the hood, investors continue to sell last year’s big performers such as the technology shares that doubled the Nasdaq index from lows a year-ago, and bought the “cheaper” value-oriented stocks whic

There were several positive vaccine developments over the weekend with Novavax announcing its vaccine is 96% effective .

Investors are looking at the likely economic recovery from the coronavirus and await cues from the Federal Reserve this week amid caution over rising borrowing costs.