Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket rose slightly on Wednesday after a strong lead-in from the United States markets. The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed up 0.05% or 6.553 points to 13,409.21 after 30.7 million shares worth $123 million were traded. The S&P/NZX 20 index was up 0.07%, closing at 7676.73 points, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 12,764.34 after rising 0.19%. There were 72 gainers on the main board and 59 decliners.
Hamilton Hindin Greene investment adviser Jeremy Sullivan said the market was treading water on Wednesday. “The index did follow in kind with US markets hitting record highs. “The latter part of our session, we came back somewhat,” Sullivan said. “Looking ahead, we’ve got a big couple of days for earnings in the US, as well as the Fed, so that’s probably going to be the main macro story for the markets.” Five companies from the “magnificent seven” will report over the next day and a half, including Alphabet (Google), Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, Amazon and Apple.
On the NZ sharemarket, NZME upgraded its financial forecasts and said its revenue was likely to be better than expected. The media company told the NZX on Wednesday that it expected operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) for 2025 to be between $59m and $62m. That was up on earlier guidance of between $57m and $59m. “NZME is heavily reliant on ad spend and has done a bit of cost-cutting as well. There’s some positive momentum into FY26 for them, midpoint of their upgrade at 12% year on year,” Sullivan said. NZME’s share price rallied 6.67% or 7c to $1.12 after 900,674 shares changed hands on turnover worth $1m.
Elsewhere, market minnow New Talisman Gold Mines had its share price rally 16.98% to $0.06 after announcing it had signed an agreement for the offtake of gold concentrate. However, the regulator swiftly applied a trading halt to the company after the update. “They said their announcement wasn’t price sensitive, but their stock went up 17%. They said they were freezing it and were going to have a closer look at it. If the market thinks it’s price sensitive, it probably should have been.”
Other movers on Wednesday included Vista Group, which fell 3.91% or 11c to $2.70; a2 Milk, which rose 1.90% or 20c to $10.70; and Contact Energy, which fell 0.63% or 6c to $9.40.
Sullivan said the lead-in from the US was interesting, particularly because it featured the widest divergence ever of companies on the S&P 500 in a positive day. “There were 102 that were positive, and 398 that were negative, and yet the market closed up. That’s the widest it’s ever been. Nvidia now makes up 8% of the S&P 500, the largest since General Motors in the 1970s. “Now, when Nvidia moves, so does the market.” Wall Street stocks rose to fresh records again on Tuesday (US time) as a jump in Nvidia shares added to bullishness over easing trade tensions and market-friendly central bank policy. All three major US indices climbed to records for the third straight session, with artificial intelligence player Nvidia piling on about 5% as the chipmaker announced new ventures and CEO Jensen Huang headlined a company event in Washington.
US President Donald Trump is due to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday in South Korea – and rosy comments by Trump have fuelled optimism that the world’s two largest economies, China and the United States, can strike a deal to ease their trade war.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 13 points lower at 8909.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has fallen to its lowest level in two weeks after a surprise inflation spike dampened hopes of further interest rate cuts this year.
The S&P/ASX200 fell 86.3 points on Wednesday, down 0.96 per cent, to 8,926.2, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 77 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 9,218.8.
The bourse tumbled from an already shaky start after higher-than-expected September quarter trimmed mean inflation figures landed at the upper limit of the Reserve Bank's two-to-three per cent target range.
"It pretty much eradicates almost any chance of a rate cut before the end of the year, it would take something extraordinary to see it now," Capital.com market analyst Kyle Rodda told AAP.
Hopes of a reduction rose earlier in the month after September unemployment spiked to 4.5 per cent, but now the dangerous combination of a softening economy and sticky inflation puts the RBA on a tricky path ahead for its monetary policy decisions.
"We are getting weakness coming through the labour market at the same time prices are moving higher in aggregate and that is a - dare I say it - stagflationary mix," Mr Rodda said.
"They wouldn't want to jump the gun with that sort of rhetoric, but nevertheless, that's the basic formula."
Interest rate-sensitive sectors dragged on the bourse, as the heavyweight financial sector dropped 1.9 per cent, tracking with losses in the major banks.
The inflation figures also weighed on industrials (-2.0 per cent), real estate stocks (-1.7 per cent) and the discretionary spending segment, down 1.1 per cent, as Wefarmers, JB Hi-Fi and Aristocrat finished lower.
The traditionally defensive consumer staples sector rose 0.3 per cent, thanks largely to a more than two per cent rally in Woolworths shares to $27.61 after a strong quarterly sales report.
The supermarket giant's price is on par with mid-2019 and more than 35 per cent short of its 2021 record-high of $42.66. Group CEO Amanda Bardwell told shareholders on Wednesday the first quarter performance was "below our aspirations and there remains more to do".
Raw materials staged a modest comeback after a brutal sell-down on Tuesday, led by strength in large cap miners as iron ore prices pipped two-week highs, and as dip-buyers supported gold stocks.
Spot gold is trading at $US3,957 ($A5,997) an ounce, still in correction territory at around 10.7 per cent short of the previous week's $US4,381 all-time high.
Copper miners performed well as the base metal rose to its highest price since late July, helping Sandfire Resources and Capstone Copper Corporation rally more than three per cent each.
The energy sector gained 0.5 per cent, as strong performances in coal producers and uranium plays helped counterbalance an overnight dip in oil prices.
Woodside shares edged down 0.4 per cent to $24.16 while Santos edged 0.1 per cent higher as natural gas futures bounced after a week of production-led price pressure.
Health care stocks continued to underperform the broader market, down 2.3 per cent, as CSL and imaging IT provider Pro Medicus tumbled up to 4.4 per cent.
The Australian dollar strengthened on the inflation print to buy 66.01 US cents, up from 65.38 US cents and trading at three-week highs after a fifth session of gains.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 fell 86.3 points, or 0.96 per cent, to 8,926.2
The broader All Ordinaries lost 77 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 9,218.8
The NZX 50 Lost -0.65 points (0.00%) to 13408.56
Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):
Challenger Limited
Healius Limited
Peter Warren Automotive Holdings Limited
Universal Store Holdings Limited
Wesfarmers Limited
Whitehaven Coal Limited
Woolworths Group Limited
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA dropped 0.2% to 47,632.00, the S&P 500 was unchanged at 6,890.59 and the Nasdaq climbed 0.5% to 23,958.47.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Teradyne Inc TER surging 20.44%, Seagate Technology Holdings PLC STX jumped 19.02%, and Western Digital Corp WDC lifted 13.12%.
The biggest decliners were Fiserv Inc FI which dropped 43.94%, Smurfit WestRock PLC SW fell 12.18%, and Garmin Ltd GRMN lost 11.48%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.7% to 4,016.33 and the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 1.3% to 2,550.28.
Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 0.3% to 26,346.14.
Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average added 2.2% to 51,307.65.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX climbed 0.4% to 84,997.13.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index lifted 0.6% to 9,756.14. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX dropped 0.6% to 24,124.21, and the France's CAC 40 declined 0.2% to 8,200.88
