Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket closed down on Wednesday, led by a sell-off of Gentrack and property stocks as the market reacted to Westpac’s home loan rate increase. The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed down 0.62% or 83.72 points at 13,371.06 after 33.7 million shares, worth $137.4m, were traded. The S&P/NZX 20 index was down 0.82%, closing at 7610.56 points, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 12,757.23 after falling 0.82%. There were 61 gainers on the main board and 84 decliners.
Gentrack led the market drop for most of the day, falling 1.88% or 18c to $9.40 after two million shares changed hands, with turnover of $18.5m. Elsewhere, property stocks such as Ryman Healthcare, Kiwi Property Group and Stride Property fell. Ryman fell 2.09% or 6c to $2.81, Kiwi Property fell 0.47% to $1.05 after 3.8m shares changed hands, while Stride fell 0.71% or 1c to $1.39.
Meanwhile, Infratil lost 2.05% or 24c, falling to $11.46, while Mainfreight was down 0.74% or 50c to $66.75. Fisher and Paykel Healthcare also fell late in the day, declining 0.45% or 17c to $37.89 on turnover worth $21.1m.
In more positive news, Ebos Group shares lifted 1.57% or 43c to $27.87 on turnover worth $3m, and Contact Energy lifted 0.11% or 1c to $9.29. Hallenstein Glasson also held its annual shareholder meeting in Christchurch, sharing that group sales have lifted by 13.8% over the first 18 weeks of the financial year. The lift was driven mainly by the Australian market, with chairman Warren Bell saying he expected the NZ market “to remain challenging, with cost-of-living pressures continuing to impact discretionary spend across the retail environment”. Hallenstein Glasson’s share price lifted 3.02% or 28c to $9.56 on turnover worth $698,414.14.
Wall Street stocks trod water early on Tuesday (US time) as markets digested mixed earnings reports and traded cautiously before a US Federal Reserve decision.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 76 points higher at 8658.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: A rally in the raw materials sector has salvaged an otherwise grim session for Australia's share market, as gold stocks regained their shine.
The S&P/ASX200 edged 6.5 points lower on Wednesday, up 0.08 per cent, to 8,579.4, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 7.6 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 8,868.2.
The market drifted most of the day into the red but held a fairly tight range ahead of a US Federal Reserve meeting overnight, after Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock ruled out local interest rate cuts for the foreseeable future on Tuesday, Vantage senior market analyst Hebe Chen said.
"Repricing around the RBA remains a key driver for today, with markets now factoring in a rising risk that the next move could be a hike rather than a cut - a shift that is prompting caution across rate-sensitive parts of the market," Ms Chen told AAP.
"Miners were the standout, with gold names in particular finding support from firmer commodity prices, stronger-than-expected China inflation data, and renewed optimism that a Fed easing cycle will ultimately underpin demand."
Only two of 11 local sectors ended the day higher, but materials was the only clear winner with a 1.3 per cent boost.
ASX-listed gold stocks were broadly between four and five per cent higher, as the precious metal held steady above $US4,210 ($A6,340) an ounce.
Lithium producers continued higher, with Liontown and Pilbara Minerals each rallying more than three per cent as electric vehicle demand, inventory drawdowns and tighter emissions regulations, particularly in China, reinvigorate interest in battery minerals.
Large cap miners also ended the session higher, but with modest gains of less than one per cent for Fortescue, Rio Tinto and BHP, tracking with iron ore futures, which rose to $US106.70 a tonne.
The heavyweight financials sector edged 0.4 per cent lower, as three of the big four banks tipped into the red, while ANZ carved out a 0.3 per cent improvement to $35.25.
CBA shares fell 0.5 per cent to $153.82, and has been range-bound since selling off in mid-November.
Energy stocks ticked down 0.7 per cent, with oil prices drifting lower as investors watched Russia-Ukraine peace talks and awaited the US funding rate decision.
Uranium producers bucked the sector trend, with Paladin and Deep Yellow up 1.9 per cent and 4.1 per cent respectively, ahead of gold, rare earths and uranium play Moonlight Resources' initial public offering on Thursday.
IT stocks underperformed the market with a 1.5 per cent dip in a broad sector slump, while real estate (-0.7 per cent) and industrials (-0.8 per cent) also sold off.
Consumer-facing stocks escaped the session relatively unscathed, as discretionaries faded 0.1 per cent and staples closed just above break-even.
The Australian dollar is buying 66.42 US cents, largely stalling ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
With a US interest rate cut all but certain, investors will be checking Fed officials' pulse on their 2026 monetary policy outlook, after swap markets in Australia, Canada and the European Union recently narrowed their bets on rate hikes in the coming year.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 fell 6.5 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 8,579.4
The broader All Ordinaries gained 7.6 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 8,579.4
The NZX 50 added 47.43 points (0.35%) to 13418.49
Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):
Westpac Banking Corporation
Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):
Premier Investments Limited
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA rose 1% to 48,057.75, the S&P 500 lifted 0.7% to 6,886.68 and the Nasdaq rose 0.3% to 23,654.16.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were GE Vernova Inc GEV surging 15.62%, Western Digital Corp WDC jumped 7.33%, and LKQ Corp LKQ lifted 7.28%.
The biggest decliners were Uber Technologies Inc UBER which dropped 5.51%, DoorDash Inc DASH fell 4.21%, and Netflix Inc NFLX lost 4.14%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed mixed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.2% to 3,900.50 and the Shenzhen Composite Index climbed 0.3% to 2,492.37.
Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index lifted 0.4% to 25,540.78.
Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average dropped 0.1% to 50,602.80.
India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX slipped 0.3% to 84,391.27.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.1% to 9,655.53. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX dropped 0.1% to 24,130.14, and the France's CAC 40 fell 0.4% to 8,022.69
