Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket rose yesterday, driven by a positive outlook from Freightways, and the near-unanimous decision to sell Fonterra’s Mainland business to French giant Lactalis. The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed up 0.37% or 50.080 points to 13,459.29 after 35.2 million shares worth $115m were traded. The S&P/NZX 20 index was up 0.38%, closing at 7705.59 points, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 12,820.44 after rising 0.44%. There were 73 gainers on the main board and 63 decliners.
Fonterra’s farmers voted strongly in favour of the sale of its Mainland consumer and related businesses to France’s Lactalis for $4.22 billion. The co-op said 88.47% of the total farmer votes were in support of the deal, with analysts estimating it is worth about $400,000 in total for an average farmer. The Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund lifted 0.74% or 6c to $8.17 per unit on turnover worth $880,980.08.
Elsewhere, Freightways Group held its annual shareholder meeting, with the company reporting an 8.6% increase in revenue to $347m in the first quarter of its current financial year. Freightways’ share price rallied 4.15% or 57c to $14.30 after 343,005 shares changed hands on turnover worth $4.8m.
Other key performers included Ebos Group, which saw its share price rise 2.73% or 77c to $28.94, Mainfreight, lifting 1.83% or $1.08 to $60.24, and Fletcher Building, which rose 1.58% or 5c to $3.21.
Infratil’s share price fell 0.32% or 4c to $12.31, with Mercury Energy following suit, falling 0.77% or 5c to $6.45.
Overseas, Meta shares dived more than 8% in after-hours trading after the tech giant reported a US tax charge took a roughly US$16b ($27.68b) bite out of its quarterly profit. Microsoft reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with revenue jumping 18% to US$77.7b. However, shares in the company slid by as much as 3.6% in after-hours trading amid concerns about the pace of AI monetisation. Finally, Google’s parent, Alphabet, reported its first-ever US$100b quarterly revenue, powered by strong growth across its core search business and rapidly expanding cloud division that was buoyed by artificial intelligence. The US dollar strengthened on Wednesday while Wall Street stocks were mixed after the Federal Reserve indicated its latest interest rate cut might not be repeated in December. After the US central bank announced a quarter percentage-point interest rate cut that had been expected, Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that another decrease in December “is not a foregone conclusion, far from it”. The statement jolted US markets, lifting the US dollar and pushing all three US equities briefly into the red.
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
