insto - Australian financial markets

While many companies are reluctant to admit their potential greenhouse gas costs, the number of institutional investors seeking this information has spiked, repots Bernard Kellerman.

The Carbon Disclosure Project has evolved as the pre-eminent mechanism for communication between companies and investors on climate change and carbon exposure issues. It has been run globally for 7 years, but for the fourth year has been expanded to cover the top 200 Australian and top 50 New Zealand companies.

US equity markets followed Australia’s lead on Monday as stocks surged. The S&P500 index was up 3.4 per cent, turning positive for the year as strong housing and construction data added momentum to the rally.

A three day rally in US credit markets ended on a quiet Friday. Stock indices were slightly higher while the US CDX investment grade index was 2 basis points wider at 163.