Market Announcements
Market Summary
Led by resurgent retirement village stocks and Port of Tauranga, the New Zealand sharemarket made further gains despite a drop in business confidence. The S&P/NZX 50 Index traded strongly yesterday afternoon and closed at 13,531.29, up 42.05 points or 0.31% after reaching an intraday low of 13,438.48. There were 87 gainers and 51 decliners on the main board with 37.8 million shares worth $141.3m changing hands.
Today the market is prepping for a cut of at least 25 basis points, but 50 basis points can’t be ruled out. The NZ Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) September Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion revealed a net 15% of firms expected an improvement in general economic conditions compared with 26% in the June quarter. A net 23% of firms cut staff headcount in the September quarter. The survey found that more than 40% of mortgages were due for refinancing in the next six months, and NZIER expected the reduction in interest rates to continue supporting a recovery in retail and services demand over the coming year.
In the United States, the Nasdaq Composite had its 31st record close this year and was again fuelled by the artificial intelligence (AI) stocks.
Back home, Port of Tauranga closed at a record high after gaining 18c to $8.03. Its previous best was $7.95 in December 2019. The retirement village stocks are having a new lease of life. Summerset Group, up 13c to $11.24 on trade worth $12.74m, reported a record 420 sales for the September quarter, comprising 244 new sales and 176 resales. Summerset said 29% of the sales were care occupation rights agreements, an alternative to paying daily premium charges that has been welcomed by new and current residents. The company is on track to deliver the forecast 650-730 homes by the end of the year, including village centre buildings at Cambridge and Cranbourne North in Melbourne. Construction of its fourth Victorian village, Oakleigh South, has just begun. Ryman Healthcare increased by a further 18c or 6.67% to $2.88, and Oceania Healthcare gained 1.5c or 2.13% to 72c.
Market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was up 53c to $38.18; Eroad rose 19c or 7.48% to $2.73; Skellerup gained 8c to $5.24; and Serko rebounded 9c or 3.38% to $2.75. Vulcan Steel increased 25c or 3.11% to $8.30; Scott Technology rose 19c or 8.26% to $2.49; Kiwi Property was up 2c or 1.83% to $1.115; and NZME gained 3c or 2.94% to $1.05. Gentrack was down 29c or 2.98% to $9.45; Scales Corp declined 15c or 2.58% to $5.67; and Synlait decreased 3.5c or 4.29% to 78c. Auckland International Airport, up 2c to $7.91, has appointed Murray Burt as chief infrastructure officer. He was previously the director of infrastructure at Auckland Transport.
Genesis Energy gained 5c or 2.1% to $2.43 after telling the market it is ending its joint venture solar development with FRV Australia, though it will continue to co-own and operate the Lauriston solar farm in Canterbury, which began generation in November last year.
Blackpearl Group, down 3c or 2.62% to $1.11, has completed its $15m capital raising, with Australian institutional investors participating. Being AI climbed a further 1.4c or 15.05% to 10.7c despite a price enquiry from NZX. Being said it was complying with its continuous disclosure obligations. Its share price has risen from 5.2c on Sept 8 – an increase of more than 100% in a month.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 14 points higher at 8980.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has tracked lower for a second-straight session, as consumer discretionaries, communications and real estate stocks sold off.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 fell 24.6 points on Tuesday, down 0.27 per cent to 8,956.8, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 26.4 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 9,253.6.
"You've got markets hesitant around that 9000-point level for the ASX 200 and at the same time we're pretty close to a record high," CommSec market analyst Steven Daghlian told AAP.
"So it's understandable that markets are a little jittery perhaps and not a huge amount of economic data in Australia either to move the needle."
The raw materials sector was the only winner of 11 segments, eking a less than 0.1 per cent gain with help from a handful of miners.
Rio Tinto was the best of the large caps, up 0.5 per cent to $124.18 after announcing an extension to its West Angelas iron ore mine in WA.
South32 was another success story, rising more than four per cent after an upgrade from US investment bank Jefferies.
While broader equities struggled to catch a bid, investors' appetite for the safe haven of gold showed no sign of slowing, hovering just below an all-time high of $US3,977 ($A6,015) an ounce.
ASX-listed gold miners were mixed after a strong performance on Monday, but looking at the bigger picture the sub-sector has doubled in value in 2025 to $154 billion.
Gold and copper producer Greatland Resources was the top 200's best performer, up almost 10 per cent on Tuesday, just months after debuting on the bourse.
The heavyweight financials sector was unimpressive, lumbering to a 0.1 per cent loss by the close.
The big four banks were a mixed bag with Westpac flat, ANZ gaining 0.5 per cent and NAB and CBA shedding about 0.3 per cent each, as CBA's NZ subsidiary ASB settled a class action for $A119.7 million over its loan products.
Consumer discretionary stocks took the day's wooden spoon, tumbling 1.2 per cent and tracking with losses in segment leaders Wesfarmers, Aristocrat Leisure, JB Hi-Fi and the Lottery Corporation.
Telecommunications plays were also heavy, sliding 1.1 per cent, led by dips in REA Group (-2.1 per cent), Carsales.com.au owner Car Group (-3.8 per cent) and Seek (-1.4 per cent).
Cryptocurrency Bitcoin hit an all-time high overnight, helped by US interest rate cut hopes, expanding global money supply and continued institutional inflows, eToro market analyst Josh Gilbert said.
"For bitcoin, the break to new records comes after continued institutional accumulation, with over $US3.2 billion ($A4.8 billion) flowing through bitcoin ETFs in the last week," Mr Gilbert said.
Brisbane Broncos fever eased on Tuesday, the organisation's shares tumbling 16 per cent after investors bucked the stock after the dust settled on Monday's 27 per cent boost.
In other news, bourse operator ASX tumbled 1.3 per cent to $58.06 after the financial regulator approved Cboe to list companies on its platform.
The Australian dollar is buying 66.02 US cents, down slightly from 66.05 US cents on Friday at 5pm.
Looking ahead, markets in China will be closed for one more day as public holidays continue and New Zealand's central bank is tipped to cut its official cash rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 per cent on Wednesday.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 fell 24.6 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 8,956.8
The broader All Ordinaries lost 26.4 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 9,253.6
The NZX 50 added 9.09 points (0.07%) to 13540.38
Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):
Redox Limited
Transurban Group
Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):
Vulcan Steel Limited
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended lower. The DJIA dropped 0.2% to 46,602.98, the S&P 500 slipped 0.4% to 6,714.59 and the Nasdaq declined 0.7% to 22,788.36.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were AppLovin Corp APP surging 7.51%, PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL jumped 4.68%, and The Estee Lauder Companies Inc EL lifted 4.55%.
The biggest decliners were Seagate Technology Holdings PLC STX which dropped 7.33%, Ford Motor Co F fell 6.10%, and D.R. Horton Inc DHI lost 6.07%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lifted 0.5% to 3,882.78 and the Shenzhen Composite Index added 0.4% to 2,519.42.
Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index declined 0.7% to 26,957.77.
Japanese shares ended flat. The Nikkei Stock Average was unchanged at 47,950.88.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX climbed 0.2% to 81,926.75.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished flat. The FTSE 100 Index was unchanged at 9,483.58. In Europe, shares closed mixed. The Germany's DAX was unchanged at 24,385.78, and the France's CAC 40 was unchanged at 7,974.85
