NZ Sharemarket Has ‘Soft Day’, Down 0.5%

The New Zealand sharemarket fell on Wednesday as some of the board’s largest stocks dragged the market down. The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed down 0.53% or 71.407 points to 13,306.44 after 35.9 million shares worth $140.2m were traded. The S&P/NZX 20 index was down 0.46%, closing at 7,641.12 points, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 12,688.10 after falling 0.55%. There were 65 gainers and 84 decliners on the main board.

On Monday, Infratil paid $437.7m to buy a 4.92% stake in Contact from TECT Holdings, increasing its total investment in the power company to 14.3%. Wednesday's Infratil’s share price fell 1.20% or 15c to $12.34 on turnover worth $7.2m, while Contact Energy’s share price rose 15c or 1.61% to $9.45 after 1.7m shares changed hands, worth $16.6m.

Air NZ gave an update to the market, with the airline expecting to report a first-half pre-tax loss of $30m-$55m. A subdued economy and several grounded aircraft were given as reasons for the result. Air NZ’s share price was down 0.84% to $0.59, after 1.5m shares traded on turnover worth $903,225.30.

Other stocks Elsewhere, a2 Milk’s share price fell 20c or 1.91% to $10.29. The latest Global Dairy Trade auction took place overnight Tuesday, with the price index dropping 1.4%, the fifth consecutive decline for the GDT auction.

The NZX50’s largest inhabitant also weighed on the market, with Fisher & Paykel Healthcare’s share price falling 2.10% or 75c to $35.00 after 747,833 shares changed hands on turnover worth $26.2m.

The price of gold also fell sharply, with the largest one-day decline in roughly 12 years, with gold smartshares down 5.31% on the NZX.

Most stock markets extended gains on Tuesday, as signs that China-US trade tensions were easing and investors digested a deluge of generally positive earnings.

Source: Business Desk

Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 16 points lower at 8999.

- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has handed back the previous day's record-breaking gains with interest, after plunging gold prices prompted a mining sector sell-off.

The S&P/ASX200 fell 64.7 points on Wednesday, down 0.71 per cent, to 9,030, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 69 points, or 0.73 per cent, to 9,321.1.

The fall was led by tumbling gold stocks and came after the top-200 notched a new intraday record of 9,115.2 and a best-ever close of 9,094.7 on Tuesday.

Spot gold plunged as much as 8.5 per cent from its $US4,381 ($A6,737) an ounce record, but losses narrowed to 5.5 per cent by the ASX close, Moomoo market strategist Michael McCarthy said.

"And even though the spot price bounced quite hard after early weakness, the miners themselves did not," he told AAP.

Thirteen of the top-200's worst performers were gold producers, with losses spanning from seven per cent to 10.3 per cent.

The dip was likely caused by an incoming US inflation print on Thursday night that could be negative for gold prices if it falls either side of a "goldilocks" figure, Mr McCarthy said.

"The other thing that really weighed on the market was that gold's rise was steepening as it went on, and it was getting close to vertical," he said.

"Markets rarely go anywhere in a straight line, so at some stage we had to flush out some of that exuberance just to maintain the ability to ... re-base and find solid footing, before it can possibly move higher again."

Raw materials shares tumbled more than three per cent as investors dumped gold stocks, while profit-taking weighed on rare earths and critical minerals miners a day after Australia inked a key investment deal with the United States.

Large-cap miners BHP and Rio Tinto were also heavy, slipping more than one per cent each as iron ore prices stalled but copper prices ticked lower.

The energy sector was the only clear winner with a 1.3 per cent rally, helped by a modest uplift in oil prices and a 3.5 per cent boost for Woodside after it improved its third-quarter production results and forward guidance.

The heavyweight financials sector lumbered 0.1 per cent higher, as the big four banks notched gains of up to 0.3 per cent.

Neobank Judo Capital rallied two per cent to $1.76 after a positive first-quarter update at its annual general meeting.

Consumer staples stocks were some of the weakest performers outside of mining, slipping 0.6 per cent as NAB economists noted consumer stress returned in the September quarter after easing to a two-year low on the back of falling inflation.

On the discretionary side, shares in homewares and furniture retailer Adairs soared more than eight per cent to $2.36 despite it cutting guidance, as it softened the blow with a plan to reduce its heavy discounting model.

The Australian dollar made modest inroads against the greenback, buying 65.04 US cents and up slightly from 64.91 US cents on Tuesday at 5pm.

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 dipped 64.7 points, or 0.71 per cent, to 9,030

The broader All Ordinaries lost 69 points, or 0.73 per cent, to 9,321.1

The NZX 50 Lost -23.99 points (-0.18%) to 13282.45

Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):

ASX Limited

Auckland International Airport Limited

Australian Clinical Labs Limited

Bapcor Limited

Cochlear Limited

Deterra Royalties Limited

Insurance Australia Group Limited

Perpetual Limited

South32 Limited

Super Retail Group Limited

[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:

U.S. stocks ended lower. The DJIA fell 0.7% to 46,590.41, the S&P 500 slipped 0.5% to 6,699.40 and the Nasdaq declined 0.9% to 22,740.40.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Intuitive Surgical Inc ISRG surging 13.89%, Avery Dennison Corp AVY jumped 9.48%, and The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc IPG lifted 4.32%.

The biggest decliners were Lennox International Inc LII which dropped 10.19%, Netflix Inc NFLX fell 10.07%, and Quanta Services Inc PWR lost 5.77%.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.1% to 3,913.76 and the Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 0.4% to 2,452.52.

Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 0.9% to 25,781.77.

Japanese shares ended flat. The Nikkei Stock Average was unchanged at 49,307.79.

India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX climbed 0.1% to 84,426.34.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index lifted 0.9% to 9,515.00. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX dropped 0.7% to 24,151.13, and the France's CAC 40 declined 0.6% to 8,206.87