Over the last couple of weeks, much has happened. The NZX 50 rose sharply last week and has now reached a new high at 12,280 (Yahoo! Finance). In the US, the S&P 500 is at its highest level since early September, but still 3.7% below that level. This compares with the NASDAQ 100, which isn't at a recent high and is also 7% below its September high. The ASX 200 is at a high since September but is still almost 15% below its high bach in February.
On the political front, it is a very busy time. In NZ, voting for the general election started on the 3rd of October and continues until next Saturday (17/10/20). Go HERE to register to vote if you haven't already. Concurrently with the election, a referendum on cannabis and one on the end-of-life choice act are also running. Additionally, early voting for the US general election is also underway in some states, with the actual election taking place on the 3rd of November. Donald Trump and many of his advisors were infected with Covid-19 last week. However, due to his position, he was given a mixture of treatments not available to most people, which has helped speed his recovery.
Global Covid-19 cases reached 37.4 million and deaths have surpassed 1 million. India (7 million cases) is quickly catching up to the US (7.9 million cases) and may soon surpass them to become the most infected country by cases. However, the 7-day daily new cases moving average for the US has started to trend upward again, so the US may remain on top for a long time to come. In NZ, Auckland returned to alert level 1 this week, joining the rest of New Zealand. The UK has been seeing major spikes in cases and lockdowns and restrictions have been increasing to counter them.
For my personal portfolio, it was a very good week, with an almost 3% increase. The main driver of this was Meridian Energy (MEL), which surged 8%. ATM has performed poorly of late- after it dropped 21% in the previous week, it only managed to recover 2% this week.
