Market Announcements
Market Summary
New Zealand share prices ended firmly Friday after annual meetings from NZX index constituent stocks offered some optimism about the future and no nasty surprises. The S&P/NZX 50 Index ended 89.03 points or 0.66% up at 13,548.32, with 37.05 million shares, worth $144m, trading. Over the month, the index has gained 1.9%. On the day, there were 84 rises and 54 falls on the main board. Fisher and Paykel Healthcare (FPH), the market’s biggest stock, rose 65c or 1.8% to $37.10.
A number of annual meetings offered investors some reassurance in a difficult market for most.
Casino operator SkyCity Entertainment Group told shareholders at its annual meeting that 2025 had been a difficult year and that 2026 was likely to be the trough. However, CEO Jason Walbridge said the company was positive about 2027, with the new NZ International Convention Centre likely to deliver a full year of events. SkyCity reaffirmed its forecast of $190m to $210m in ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) for 2026. The stock ended half a cent higher at 73c - off its peak of 74.5c.
Port of Tauranga ended 3c higher at $7.86 after its annual meeting. The company said its volumes for the first quarter were 6.6 million tonnes, up 5.9% on the same quarter last year. Total container volumes were 319,000 TEU (20 foot equivalents), up 9% on the same quarter last year. “Based on the first quarter’s results, and notwithstanding any significant changes to trading conditions, we expect full-year underlying earnings to be in the range of $137m to 147m,” the company said.
Vulcan Steel dropped 43c or 5% to $8.12 after its annual meeting, where it said its first quarter revenue was down 3% year-on-year, driven by a lower average selling price. Overall, the volume of activity for the group looked to be stabilising over the quarter, with the pace of recovery expected to strengthen in the second half, it said.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 27 points lower at 8854.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has limped to the finish in a grim week for the bourse, as stock-specific shocks and a hot inflation report weighed on sentiment.
The S&PASX200 edged 3.6 points lower on Friday, down 0.04 per cent to 8,881.9, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 0.9 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 9.178.
The local market underperformed most of its peers for October, eking out a roughly 0.5 per cent gain as Japan's Nikkei and South Korea's KOSPI posted double-digit lifts and Wall Street's S&P500 and Nasdaq rallied to record highs.
"So that's a pretty dismal performance, given what's going on in the rest of the world," IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore told AAP.
Consumer discretionary and real estate stocks have been hammered this week, each down more than 4.5 per cent, as investors repriced their expectations for interest rate cuts after hotter-than-expected September quarter inflation figures.
"Some of these interest rate-sensitive stocks have run higher, looking for more rate cuts, and that's where I see there being a real headwind for quite a few of these sectors, be it property, consumer-facing stocks and so on," Mr Sycamore said.
"I'm still not ruling a more neutral monetary setting, but it won't be happening next week."
Seven of 11 local sectors improved on Friday, led by energy and communications stocks, while financials and raw materials also provided support as gold stocks rebounded.
Northern Star, Evolution and Newmont each surged more than three per cent after spot gold bounced, but the precious metal had again slipped below $US4000 ($A6,110) an ounce by the ASX close on Friday.
Iron ore giants Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue all softened in the last session, but locked in gains for the week on the back of iron ore and copper price strength.
Rare earths and critical minerals producers Lynas, Iluka and Liontown Resources caught a bid to round out a volatile fortnight for their respective segments, with trade deals, rumours and commodity price predictions sparking wild price action.
The big four banks were mixed on Friday, with Westpac and CBA pushing higher, while NAB traded flat and ANZ slipped 0.6 per cent after announcing a more than $1 billion hit to second-half earnings across several significant items.
The wider sector managed to scrape a 0.15 per cent gain for the week, despite shifting investor sentiment.
Turning to insurers, broker Steadfast tanked almost 10 per cent after announcing boss Robert Kelly would stand aside for an external investigation into a workplace complaint against him.
Energy stocks outperformed the bourse, up 0.6 per cent and 1.4 per cent for the week, buoyed by Woodside and uranium producers, after the US announced plans to boost its nuclear capacity.
The health care sector has lost more than eight per cent of its value since Monday, after investors dumped CSL shares to nearly seven-year lows after a second profit warning in as many months.
Mayne Pharma plummeted by almost a third on Friday after federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers flagged he would block US pharmaceutical giant Cosette's $672 million takeover bid for the company, citing risks to the economy.
Utilities stocks tumbled 1.1 per cent at the end of the week, tracking an even bigger slide in Origin's price after its quarterly update failed to impress.
The Australian dollar is buying 65.41 US cents, down from 65.92 US cents on Thursday at 5pm.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 fell 3.6 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 8,881.9
The broader All Ordinaries lost 0.9 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 9,178
The NZX 50 Lost -0.51 points (0.00%) to 13547.81
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA added 0.1% to 47,562.87, the S&P 500 gained 0.3% to 6,840.20 and the Nasdaq climbed 0.6% to 23,724.96.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were First Solar Inc FSLR surging 14.19%, Amazon.com Inc AMZN jumped 9.56%, and Western Digital Corp WDC lifted 8.82%.
The biggest decliners were DexCom Inc DXCM which dropped 14.59%, Monolithic Power Systems Inc MPWR fell 7.66%, and Solstice Advanced Materials Inc SOLS lost 7.24%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.8% to 3,954.79 and the Shenzhen Composite Index fell 0.3% to 2,509.59.
Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index slipped 1.4% to 25,906.65.
Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 2.1% to 52,411.34.
India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX slipped 0.6% to 83,938.71.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index fell 0.4% to 9,717.25. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX slipped 0.7% to 23,958.30, and the France's CAC 40 fell 0.4% to 8,121.07
