NZ Sharemarket Starts Week Up 0.6%

Software firm Gentrack climbed nearly 20% on a strong annual result as the New Zealand sharemarket made a solid gain ahead of a further expected interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of NZ. The S&P/NZX 50 Index yesterday reached a morning low of 13,370.42 but recovered well to close at 13,449.85, up 80.45 points or 0.6%. There were 86 gainers and 54 decliners and the main board.

Trading was extended for the quarterly review of the MSCI equity indices, and volumes increased to 71.3 million share transactions worth $472.9m The late surge in trading and prices was led by market leaders Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, up 43c to $37.31, on trade worth $127.65m; Meridian Energy, gaining 1c to $5.75, trade $51.69m; and Contact, increasing 12c to $9.72, on trade worth $48.2m, as investment managers rebalanced their portfolios. Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index was up 1.21% to 8,518 points at 6pm NZ time.

ASB expects the RBNZ will leave its options wide open for next year, signalling it is prepared to cut further if the economic recovery risks are underwhelming its assumptions. After this week, the Reserve Bank has nearly three months to look at how the recovery is progressing.

Gentrack surged $1.43 or 18.22% to $9.28 after reporting an 8% increase in revenue to $230.19m and a 119% rise in net profit to $20.87m for the year ending September. It is not paying a dividend. The utilities software company said, based on the scale and maturity of its development pipeline, “we are confident that revenue growth will be higher in FY26, but it is too early to provide further guidance.” Gentrack said it passed a key milestone when Genesis Energy went live on its new cloud-based platform with Salesforce’s customer relationship management embedded.   ACEN in the Philippines and Pennon Water Services in the UK will soon be using the new platform.

Amongst other leading stocks, Freightways increased 28c or 2.01% to $14.21; Auckland International Airport gained 19c or 2.43% to $8.01; Chorus collected 16c to $9 94; and Briscoe was up 17c to $5.39. Third Age Health increased 20c or 3.57% to $5.80; Vital Healthcare Property Trust gained 3.5c or 1.78% to $2; Sanford was up 19c or 2.6% to $7.49; Vulcan Steel added 21c or 2.58% to $8.34; and Tower was up 5c or 2.65% to $1.94. Ryman Healthcare, up 2c to $2.89, told the market it has successfully completed a full refinancing of its $2 billion syndicated loan facilities, extending the term to five years and introducing a new flexible structure.

Kiwi Property, down 0.005c to $1.085, reported half-year revenue of $136.65m, up 6.46%; operating profit of $62.9m, an increase of 11.5%; and net profit of $9.82m, up $218.4m. Net tangible assets are $1.12 per share, and its portfolio value has hit $3.3b. Kiwi said 77% of large-format retail land at Drury has been conditionally sold with the sale proceeds of $115m to be received in the 2017-2019 financial years. Latest land sales were to Costco, Rebel Sport/Briscoes and Harvey Norman.

Santana Minerals increased 4.5c or 4.86% to 97c after the Environmental Protection Authority formally accepted the application for developing the Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project in Central Otago, under the Fast-track Approvals Act. The application will now be considered by an expert panel, and the decision is expected within six months.

A2 Milk decreased 16c to $10.72 after receiving preliminary China regulatory approval to transition two China-label infant milk formula registrations, acquired through the purchase of the Pokeno processing plant, to a2 Milk-branded products. The final step is applying to the State Administration for Market Regulation in China, with the review process expected to take about six months, the company said.

Source: Business Desk

Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 36 points higher at 8573.

- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has bounced from a recent sell-off after hopes of US interest rate cuts overwhelmed a gloomier outlook for local borrowing costs.

The S&P/ASX200 jumped 108.6 points on Monday, up 1.29 per cent, to 8,525.1, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 114.1 points, or 1.31 per cent, to 8,800.4.

There have been seven positive sessions in the past 21 trading days, and with five of those being Mondays, traders won't be reaching for the champagne just yet.

"It's been a very, very clear pattern, but what happens after here is anyone's guess," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore told AAP.

"But I suspect with US rate cuts back in play, we may have seen a bit of a short-term low for our market."

Ten of 11 local sectors traded higher, while energy stocks slipped 0.3 per cent, with oil prices under pressure as peace Russia-Ukraine peace talks edged towards a resolution.

Industrials led the other segments higher, rallying 2.7 per cent in a sector-wide surge with some outsized performances from plumbing supplier Reece and ports and logistics company Qube.

Reece soared for a second session since its quarterly update, with investors betting the bottom is in after its share price tanked from around $25 to about $10 since November 2024.

Qube rocketed almost 19 per cent higher on the back of a $11.6 billion takeover bid from Macquarie Group.

Financials jumped one per cent, as Westpac led the big four banks higher with a 2.3 per cent gain, while CBA shares rose 1.2 per cent to $154.96 as it announced changes to its technology leadership team.

Raw materials stocks gained 1.1 per cent, with a return to form for gold miners and decent lifts for iron ore giants Fortescue (+1.9 per cent) and Rio Tinto (+1.1 per cent).

BHP edged 0.6 per cent higher to $40.62, after it walked away a second attempt to merge with UK-listed copper play Anglo American.

Spot gold is trading at $US4,049 ($A6,265) and has been consolidating in a tight range for the past week.

Elsewhere, IT stocks performed well, lifting 2.4 per cent in a broad-based rebound from recent weakness, with stand-out performances from Iress and Life360, which each gained more than seven per cent.

Real estate plays, utilities and health care stocks each jumped about two per cent.

Imaging software provider Pro Medicus shares increased 3.5 per cent to $260, after announcing at least $29 million in fresh US contracts.

Consumer-facing sectors were less impressive, with discretionaries carving out a 0.7 per cent gain and staples edging 0.4 per cent higher.

In company news, shares in defence technology Droneshield rose 1.8 per cent to $1.75 after it announced an interim US boss, and flagged two independent directors would review recent controversial share sales by CEO Oleg Vornik and two board members.

Bitcoin rebounded from its recent sell-off over the weekend, and is trading around $US87,370 ($A135,180).

"Bitcoin experienced a sharp downturn last week, dropping from its mid-November highs in a broad crypto sell-off that erased all 2025 gains and wiped nearly $800 billion from total market value," eToro market analyst Farhan Badami said.

"A rebound was always likely following such an aggressive flush, and the weekend delivered exactly that."

The Australian dollar is buying 64.63 US cents, up slightly from 64.47 on Friday at 5pm after dipping to August lows over the weekend.

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 rose 108.6 points, or 1.29 per cent, to 8,525.1

The broader All Ordinaries gained 114.1 points, or 1.31 per cent, to 8,800.4

The NZX 50 added 41.16 points (0.30%) to 13541.01

Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):

Mesoblast Limited

Monadelphous Group Limited

Objective Corporation Limited

Ramelius Resources Limited

Ramsay Health Care Limited

The Star Entertainment Group Limited

Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):

Aristocrat Leisure Limited

Elders Limited

Newmont Corporation

[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:

U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA lifted 0.4% to 46,448.27, the S&P 500 climbed 1.5% to 6,705.12 and the Nasdaq lifted 2.7% to 22,872.00.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Broadcom Inc AVGO surging 11.10%, Western Digital Corp WDC jumped 8.43%, and Micron Technology Inc MU lifted 7.99%.

The biggest decliners were Carnival Corp CCL which dropped 6.78%, Paramount Skydance Corp PSKY fell 5.22%, and Copart Inc CPRT lost 4.47%.

Asia

Chinese shares closed mixed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was unchanged at 3,836.77 and the Shenzhen Composite Index lifted 0.9% to 2,390.98.

Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 2% to 25,716.50.

Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average slipped 2.4% to 48,625.88.

India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX fell 0.4% to 84,900.71.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index slipped 0.1% to 9,534.91. In Europe, shares closed mixed. The Germany's DAX climbed 0.6% to 23,239.18, and the France's CAC 40 declined 0.3% to 7,959.67