Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket maintained its positive momentum on Thursday as results from Skellerup, Auckland International Airport, and SkyCity Entertainment Group had mixed reactions from investors. On the main board, the S&P/NZX 50 Index closed up 0.94% or 122.77 points, rising to 13,194.07, after 31.1 million shares worth $109.33m changed hands. The S&P/NZX 20 index closed at 7,736.91 points, up 0.88%, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 12,917.39, rising 0.90%. There were 87 gainers on the main board and 44 decliners.
The OCR [official cash rate] decision on Wednesday, the lower forecast track and the signal of more cuts has put a bit of a rocket under the New Zealand market. While the economy isn’t as far from firing on all cylinders, businesses are certainly in better spirits than they were.
Skellerup’s full-year result saw its share price rally 6.38% or 30c to $5.00 after 380,365 shares changed hands on turnover worth $1.8m. The Red Band gumboot maker said it had made $54.5m in profit after tax with earnings before interest and tax of $78m. Its profit was in line with expectations, falling in the middle of the $52m to $56m range flagged in July.
Auckland International Airport also reported its full-year results, with a “solid” net profit after tax up 12% to $310.4m. Its share price fell 0.64% or 5c to $7.75 on turnover worth $11.7m.
The market's biggest stock, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, also gave guidance on its first half at its annual meeting. The company’s outlook for the full year remains unchanged, with operating revenue in the range of approximately $2.15 billion to $2.25b and net profit in the range of roughly $390m to $440m. Fisher and Paykel Healthcare’s share price rose 2.12% or 80c to $38.45 on turnover worth $10.8m.
US stocks closed mostly lower on Wednesday as the tech sector remained under pressure while investors kept an eye on retail earnings and weighed the prospect of US Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. The tech pullback comes as markets reached a point where many stocks “were overbought,” after soaring to record highs in recent weeks, said Tim Urbanowicz of Innovator Capital Management.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 12 points lower at 8971.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: The Australian share market has hung on to finish the trading day over 9,000 points for the first time as all sectors closed in the green.
At Thursday's close, the S&P/ASX200 was up 101.1 points, or 1.13 per cent, to 9,019.1, as the broader All Ordinaries also rose 106.8 points, or 1.16 per cent, to 9,284.2.
The new high marks seven record-breaking sessions in the past nine as the local bourse hit its intraday peak in the final minutes of trade after it had been steadily hovering around the 9,000 mark throughout the day.
Despite it being the busiest company reporting day on Thursday, Capital.com senior market analyst Kyle Rodda said the record run was set up by Wall Street.
"We have seen a bit of strength coming through some cyclical areas in the market over (in the US) and that's rubbed off on ours today," he told AAP.
Mr Rodda said the bar is being set reasonably high for corporates to exceed when it comes to earnings, with recent results showing downside misses have been punished more than the responses to upside surprises.
"The fact that we've got some of these big heavyweights falling throughout the week, yet markets still rocketing higher suggests that there's more going on than local earnings season here," he said.
But the ASX200 breaching the 9,000 mark is significant on a psychological level, pointing to a bullish sentiment in the market.
All 11 sectors on the ASX ended the day in the green, with industrials posting a market leading 3.4 per cent increase.
The industrials sector was powered by supply chain logistics company Brambles, whose share price soared 13.2 per cent following a share buyback and news of profits exceeding estimates.
Transport logistics company Transurban added to the lift, but the sector was moderated by disappointing numbers for fibre cement manufacturer James Hardie which dropped 9.4 per cent, a day after slashing 28 per cent due to disappointing results.
Real estate managed a last minute turn-around, finishing up 0.2 per cent, led by falls for property giant Goodman Group despite a $2.3 billion profit and data centre expansion plans.
The materials sector was up 0.8 per cent as mining giants BHP and Rio Tinto finished the day up 0.7 per cent and one per cent, respectively, after US President Donald Trump backed their planned joint development of an American copper project.
In the consumer discretionary sector - up two per cent - Supercheap Auto and Rebel Sport owner Super Retail announced record sales, leading to its share price jumping 12.3 per cent.
Consumer staples were up 2.1 per cent by the close, backed up by gains from both Woolworths and Coles.
The heavyweight financial sector was up 0.9 per cent with all four big banks in the green, with ANZ leading Westpac in gaining over one per cent by the close.
The Australian dollar is buying 64.17 US cents, down from 64.46 US cents on Wednesday at 5pm.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 rose 101.1 points on Thursday, or 1.13 per cent, to 9,019.1
The broader All Ordinaries gained 106.8 points, or 1.16 per cent, to 9,284.2
The NZX 50 Lost -50.38 points (-0.38%) to 13143.69
Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):
ARB Corporation Limited
ASX Limited
IRESS Limited
LendLease Group
MyState Limited
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended lower. The DJIA dropped 0.3% to 44,785.50, the S&P 500 declined 0.4% to 6,370.17 and the Nasdaq fell 0.3% to 21,100.31.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Paramount Skydance Corp PSKY surging 14.66%, Packaging Corp of America PKG jumped 6.17%, and Smurfit WestRock PLC SW lifted 4.15%.
The biggest decliners were First Solar Inc FSLR which dropped 6.99%, Walmart Inc WMT fell 4.49%, and PG&E Corp PCG lost 4.49%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed mixed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lifted 0.1% to 3,771.10 and the Shenzhen Composite Index fell 0.2% to 2,358.08.
Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 0.2% to 25,104.61.
Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average slipped 0.6% to 42,610.17.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX gained 0.2% to 82,000.71.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index rose 0.2% to 9,309.20. In Europe, shares closed mixed. The Germany's DAX gained 0.1% to 24,293.34, and the France's CAC 40 fell 0.4% to 7,938.29
