Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket was down on Thursday, driven largely by Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and a2 Milk, but the full-year result released by Fonterra was also a focus for investors.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed down 0.21% or 27.52 points, falling to 13,153.79 after 33.4 million shares worth $143m traded.
The S&P/NZX 20 index closed at 7,579.04 points, down 0.09%, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 12,640.38, falling 0.52%.
There were 75 gainers and 56 decliners on the main board.
Fonterra the headline
Hamilton Hindin Greene investment adviser Jeremy Sullivan said that Fonterra was the story of the day, noting its annual result was stronger than the headline profit suggested.
Fonterra reported a net profit of $1.079 billion for the July 2025 year, down 4.3% while maintaining its milk price forecasts.
“Operating profit rose, cash returns stepped up, and milk payments to farmers reached $15.3 billion. The net profit decline reflects a change in tax treatment rather than a fall in demand or execution,” Sullivan said. “Guidance for FY26 at 45–65c is softer as earnings normalise and the portfolio is prepared for the planned consumer divestment.”
Sullivan said that FY26 appears to be a transition year for the business, as the portfolio is simplified and new capacity is established.
“If product mix upgrades and capacity projects land on time, earnings can rebuild toward FY25 levels in about three years.”
The Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund’s unit price fell 1.14% or 9c to $7.81 after 135,302 units were traded on turnover worth $1m.
Fisher & Paykel dips
Sullivan said that the wider NZX was dragged down by the top stock, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which gave back gains it had made on Wednesday.
Its share price fell 4.02% or $1.52 to $36.28 on turnover worth $35m. a2 Milk also had its share price decline, falling 10c or 1.03% to $9.65.
Infratil on up
Elsewhere, Infratil continued to rise following its announcement late on Wednesday that CDC Data Centres had secured approximately 100MW of new contracted capacity.
Infratil’s share price increased 2.10% or 26c to $12.65 on turnover worth $16.3m.
Wall Street
Wall Street stocks fell for the second consecutive session on Wednesday, as analysts cited concerns about elevated equity valuations and awaited key economic data later in the week.
“We’ve given up some ground today,” FHN Financial’s Chris Low said. “It really does look mostly like people are just taking some cash off the table or repositioning.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.4% at 46,121.28. The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 6637.97, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.3% to 22,497.86.
While all three indices finished at fresh records on Monday, market watchers have said equities could be poised to retreat after a heady run, especially since late September is traditionally a weak patch for the market.
Low also pointed to worries that Fed policymakers may back away from additional interest rate cuts.
Key data points in the coming days include Thursday’s jobless claims data and Friday’s personal consumption price data, a closely watched inflation metric.
Source: BusinessDesk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 26 points lower at 8752.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has finished marginally higher after a choppy trading session, with a rally in miners digging the bourse out of trouble.
The S&P/ASX200 closed 8.5 points higher on Thursday, up 0.10 per cent to 8773, as the broader All Ordinaries lifted 5.8 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 9,063.4.
The underwhelming session came after the major indices tumbled more than 80 points on Wednesday which followed Wall Street wobbles and hotter-than-expected local inflation figures.
"Even though we recovered from the lows of the session, we've basically given back a healthy chunk of those improvements in the final couple of hours of trade," CommSec market analyst Steven Daghlian told AAP.
"It just highlights that there's a lack of enthusiasm in the buying at the moment and it does, of course, follow our worst day in three weeks."
Three of 11 local sectors closed higher, led by rallies in raw materials and energy stocks, while utilities plays eked out modest gains.
Banks were mixed as the financial segment fell 0.2 per cent, while consumer staples, health care stocks and real estate plays were the weakest performers.
Of the big four, CBA was alone in swinging 0.5 per cent lower to $163.74, as NAB and ANZ edged 0.3 per cent higher and Westpac jumped 0.9 per cent to $37.91.
BHP and Rio Tinto buoyed the broader market, each surging more than 3.5 per cent after a deadly landslide in Indonesia forced the closure one of the world's largest copper mines, spiking the commodity's price.
Pure (or nearly pure) copper plays such as Sandfire Resources (+7.6 per per cent) and Capstone Copper (+10.8 per cent) led the top 200.
Gold miners came off the boil after recent strength as the precious metal hovered near all-time highs.
Northern Star fell two per cent to $22.66, while smaller players such as Westgold Resources (-5.4 per cent) and Catalyst Metals (-7.8 per cent) were the ASX 200's worst performers.
Spot gold is trading hands at $US3,742 ($A5,673), about $US45 short of its all-time peak hit earlier this week.
More than two per cent gains in Woodside and Santos helped lift energy stocks, as oil prices clung to recent gains after a surprise drop in US inventories and ongoing concerns about Russian crude supply.
Nine Entertainment finished the day 0.4 per cent higher to $1.17 as investors mulled the upcoming departure of chair Catherine West, who makes way for Peter Tonagh in November.
Billions in dividends were paid out to shareholders from companies including BHP, Rio Tinto, Telstra, Ramsay Health, Accent and Bega on Thursday, with Fortescue, AMP, Woolworths and QBE to follow on Friday.
The Australian dollar is buying 65.93 US cents, easing from 66.16 US cents on Wednesday at 5pm and about 1.7 per cent short of last week's 11-month highs.
Meanwhile, Wednesday's hotter-than-forecast August price growth has tempered investor bets on incoming Reserve Bank interest rate cuts, with all eyes now looking to jobs data due in mid-October, IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore said.
"Reflecting this uncertainty, pricing for the RBA's November meeting, which started the week about 70 per cent priced for a 25bp rate cut, has now fallen to just 11bps of cuts, representing a 40 per cent probability," he said.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 rose 8.5 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 8,773
The broader All Ordinaries gained 5.8 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 9,063.4
The NZX 50 Lost -3.39 points (-0.03%) to 13150.4
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended lower. The DJIA slipped 0.4% to 45,947.32, the S&P 500 declined 0.5% to 6,604.72 and the Nasdaq slipped 0.5% to 22,384.70.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Intel Corp INTC surging 8.81%, International Business Machines Corp IBM jumped 5.20%, and Synopsys Inc SNPS lifted 4.08%.
The biggest decliners were CarMax Inc KMX which dropped 20.06%, Jabil Inc JBL fell 6.74%, and Freeport-McMoRan Inc FCX lost 6.42%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed mixed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was unchanged at 3,853.30 and the Shenzhen Composite Index lifted 0.2% to 2,509.29.
Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 0.1% to 26,484.68.
Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.3% to 45,754.93.
India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX dropped 0.7% to 81,159.68.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index declined 0.4% to 9,213.98. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX slipped 0.6% to 23,534.83, and the France's CAC 40 fell 0.4% to 7,795.42
