Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket rose on Wednesday, driven by high-yielding companies after the Reserve Bank of NZ’s 50 basis point cut to the official cash rate. The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed up 0.27% or 37.19 points, rising to 13,568.48 after 66.1 million shares worth $180.4m were traded. The S&P/NZX 20 index closed at 7769.11 points, up 0.17%, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 12,888.45, falling 0.01%. There were 99 gainers on the main board and 41 decliners.
Summerset Group saw its share price rise 51c, or 4.54%, to $11.75 after 492,942 shares traded on a turnover worth $5.76m. Property for Industry also rose, up 3.15% or 8c to $2.62 on turnover worth $2.68m. Ryman Healthcare fell, however, down 2.43% to $2.81.
Mercury Energy, Genesis Energy and Meridian Energy saw their share prices lift. Mercury rose 10c to $6.78, Genesis was up 4c to $2.47, and Meridian lifted 16c to $5.96. The market’s largest inhabitant, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, did halt the positive momentum, falling 63c or 1.65% to $37.55 on turnover worth $22.67m.
Source: Business Desk
OCR Announcement
The Reserve Bank cut the Official Cash Rate by 50 basis points to 2.5% yesterday. The committee said it remained open to further reductions in the OCR as required for inflation to settle sustainably near the 2% target mid-point in the medium term.
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 57 points higher at 9007.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has sold off for a third-straight session, in which the only sure things were gold and investor uncertainty.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 pared some of its early losses to finish 9.2 points lower on Wednesday, down 0.10 per cent, to 8,947.6.
The broader All Ordinaries faded 8.8 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 9,244.8.
"Markets had a good rally, putting in a good performance from the 25th of September, pushed above 9000 and now there's just a lot of uncertainty to push stocks higher," Pepperstone head of research Chris Weston told AAP.
"We're going to need to see the S&P500 and the Nasdaq rip through earnings to continue pushing higher - I think that's where we get the salvation."
Gold showed no signs of slowing down, as spot prices topped $US4,000 an ounce for the first time, trading as high as $US4,031 ($A6,144) just after the ASX close.
More than $US64 billion ($A97.5 billion) has flowed into gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) in 2025, including a record $US17.3 billion in September, World Gold Council data shows.
Most local sectors wound up in in the red, yet materials, health care and industrials bucked the trend to close in positive territory while financials traded about flat.
Surprisingly, most of the mining sector gains didn't come from gold producers, as Rio Tinto rallied for a second day after a mine extension announcement, while lithium plays, rare earths and mixed miners also caught a bid.
Liontown Resources was the top 200's fourth-best performer with a 5.7 per cent gain, but was pipped by James Hardie, Mesoblast and Droneshield.
James Hardie jumped almost 10 per cent after a positive surprise in its second quarter results, while Mesoblast (+9.4 per cent) beat revenue expectations for a key treatment and Droneshield (+7.8 per cent) announced an AI-driven improvement to its drone detection systems.
Energy stocks tracked 0.6 per cent lower as oil prices lingered just above recent lows.
Health care stocks ticked 0.6 per cent higher, as Mesoblast continued its rally and as Pro Medicus inked a five-year, $10 million deal with a German university hospital.
Consumer discretionary stocks continued to tumble, losing 1.5 per cent on Wednesday and shedding more than three per cent for the week.
The slump has followed a four-state public holiday on Monday and September's weak consumer confidence data published a day later.
IT stocks were also heavy, tracking with a down-tick in the Nasdaq overnight as it rolled off from breaking four intraday records in as many sessions.
New Zealand's central bank surprised most investors with a jumbo 50 basis point interest rate cut to help reinvigorate the economy, taking its official cash rate to 2.5 per cent and pushing the Australian dollar back above 114.30 NZ cents.
The Aussie is buying 65.65 US cents, down from 66.02 US cents on Tuesday at 5pm, as safe haven flows buoyed the greenback against major currencies.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 fell 9.2 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 8,947.6
The broader All Ordinaries lost 8.8 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 9,244.8
The NZX 50 added 48.40 points (0.36%) to 13616.88
Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):
REA Group Ltd
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA was unchanged at 46,601.78, the S&P 500 climbed 0.6% to 6,753.72 and the Nasdaq gained 1.1% to 23,043.38.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD surging 11.37%, Dell Technologies Inc DELL jumped 9.05%, and Arista Networks Inc ANET lifted 8.31%.
The biggest decliners were Fair Isaac Corp FICO which dropped 9.82%, Warner Bros. Discovery Inc WBD fell 3.82%, and Corteva Inc CTVA lost 3.81%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lifted 0.5% to 3,882.78 and the Shenzhen Composite Index rose 0.4% to 2,519.42.
Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index declined 0.5% to 26,829.46.
Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average slipped 0.5% to 47,734.99.
India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX fell 0.2% to 81,773.66.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index lifted 0.7% to 9,548.87. In Europe, shares closed higher. The Germany's DAX gained 0.9% to 24,597.13, and the France's CAC 40 climbed 1.1% to 8,060.13
