Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket put in another steady performance yesterday amid continued volatility offshore, especially in the United States. The S&P/NZX 50 Index finished with a small gain for the second day running, closing at 13,424.95 – up 16.81 points or 0.13% after trading between an intraday low of 13,360.44 and a high of 13,449.01. There were 56 gainers and 84 decliners, with 36.9 million shares traded at $136.2m.
The Treasury downgraded its fiscal outlook, pushing out a return to surplus in the operating balance before gains and losses to 2029/30. Net core Crown debt as a share of GDP is forecast to peak at 46.9% in 2027/28 before dipping to 46.1% in 2029/30.
The seasonally adjusted REINZ house price index was down 0.3% in November, following a 0.2% fall in October. ANZ said sales volumes fell, and with plenty of listings hitting the market, downward pressure on prices has emerged. “This is weaker than our expectation of small increases by now.” There is still brighter news in the primary sector. Meat and wool exports are forecast to lift 7% to $13.2 billion in the year to June next year, and horticulture export revenue will increase 5% to $9.2b.
On the local market, a2 Milk increased 29c or 2.81% to $10.60; Turners Automotive was up 15c or 1.9% to $8.05; Delegat Group gained 14c or 3.06% to $4.72; Napier Port added 7c or 1.89% to $3.77; and Eroad improved 3c or 2.65% to $1.16. Comvita increased 2.5c or 4.9% to 53.5c ahead of its annual meeting.
In the energy sector, Mercury was up 11c to $6.32, and Meridian increased 14c or 2.56% to $5.60 after reporting a 12.1% rise in retail sales volumes compared with November last year. Residential sales rose 23.2%, including Flick customers, and the small-to-medium segment was up 10.2%. In the month to Dec 8, national hydro storage increased from 143% to 153% of the historical average. South Island storage reached 157% of average, and North Island storage 132%. National electricity demand was 5.9% higher than in November last year. Contact was down 5c to $9.25 after reporting mass-market electricity and gas sales of 319GWh in November, compared with 290GWh in the same month last year. Electricity generated or acquired was 1014GWh compared with 741GWh in November last year, and the unit generation cost was $39.62 per MWh, up from $34.43. As of Dec 11, South Island controlled storage was 157% of the mean and North Island 129%.
Gentrack fell a further 31c or 3.53% to $8.48; Hallenstein Glasson was down 29c or 2.87% to $9.81; Third Age Health declined 30c or 4.23% to $6.79; Vista Group decreased 7c or 2.59% to $2.63; and Oceania Healthcare shed 3c or 3.23% to 90c. Channel Infrastructure was down 7c or 2.55% to $2.68 after telling the market it was investing $30m for upgrades at the Marsden Point fuel import terminal as part of the energy precinct redevelopment. The upgrades include relocating the control room on land designated for the biorefinery project and constructing a new administration building. New Talisman Gold Mines, up 0.001c or 3.7% to 2.8c, has raised $679,088 through a private placement of shares at 2.2c each. Rua Bioscience, gaining 0.002c or 7.41% to 3c, has completed its $2.316m rights offer at 2.5c a new share. This included $282,000 worth of oversubscriptions.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 3 points lower at 8599.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has swung to a loss as three major banks brought forward their tips for the next Reserve Bank interest rate hike.
The S&P/ASX200 fell 36.1 points on Tuesday, down 0.42 per cent to 8,598.9, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 43.2 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 8,880.6.
A modest boost at the opening withered over the session, with sentiment shifting as Wall Street futures slipped ahead of key US jobs data, and as CBA, NAB and investment giant Citi tipped the RBA to hike interest rates at its first 2026 meeting in February.
The falls also extended to equity markets in Asia, as investors de-risked ahead of the delayed US data print, Pepperstone head of research Chris Weston said.
"We've held up pretty well in this market, only down half of one per cent compared to some of the other markets there in China, Hong Kong or Japan," Mr Weston told AAP.
"But it does feel that people have sold their 2025 winners, locked in profits, reduced some of those exposures and will look to revisit their strategy in the new year."
Nine of 11 local sectors ended the day lower, led by energy stocks, IT companies and miners, while industrials traded one per cent higher and consumer staples stocks eked a less than 0.1 per cent gain.
The energy sector tumbled 2.2 per cent as Brent Crude dipped below $US60 a barrel for the second time since May, dragging on Woodside and Santos, while coal producers and uranium stocks also came under pressure.
IT stocks were also a sea of red, the sector tanking 2.5 per cent in a broad based sell-off.
Raw materials stocks faded 0.7 per cent, as Fortescue tumbled 2.8 per cent to $22.10, while BHP and Rio Tinto edged either side of break-even as iron ore futures reclaimed $US106 a tonne.
Gold stocks were in trouble, as the precious metal eased to $US4,283 ($A6,455) an ounce, dragging the ASX sub-industry 1.4 per cent into the red.
Mixed miners, copper producers, rare earths and battery minerals plays also sold off.
The heavyweight financials sector held up relatively well, shedding 0.1 per cent as NAB and CBA clutched minor gains, but ANZ and Westpac traded lower.
Health care stocks were also down, falling 0.8 per cent as CSL (-1.2 per cent), Pro Medicus (-3.3 per cent) and Cochlear (-1.4 per cent) lost ground.
In company news, REA Group pared some of its earlier losses to a 1.7 per cent slip on news Google was testing a new real estate advertising format.
Droneshield soared 22.2 per cent to $2.81 after announcing a $49.6 million contract with a European reseller for handheld counter-drone systems, accessories and software updates.
Star Entertainment ended the session flat after announcing the departure of CEO Steve McCann, with chair Bruce Mathieson Jnr stepping up to handle executive duties while they hunt for a new boss.
Orica shares jumped 2.8 per cent to $24.36 after its leaders flagged ongoing demand for blasting technology mining chemicals and digital solutions at the group's annual meeting.
In a further sign of wavering risk sentiment, cryptocurrency Bitcoin has again fallen below $US86,000 ($A129,648).
"The Crypto Fear & Greed Index slipped back into extreme fear, and on-chain data shows several large holders collectively offloading over 1,000 BTC at losses of 11-16 per cent, reflecting growing concern over further downside," Zerocap analyst Emir Ibrahim said.
The Australian dollar is buying 66.33 US cents, down from 66.45 US cents on Monday at 5pm.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 fell 36.1 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 8,598.9
The broader All Ordinaries lost 43.2 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 8,880.6
The NZX 50 Lost -33.91 points (-0.25%) to 13391.04
Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):
Dyno Nobel Limited
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA slipped 0.6% to 48,114.26, the S&P 500 dropped 0.2% to 6,800.26 and the Nasdaq gained 0.2% to 23,111.46.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Comcast Corp CMCSA surging 5.39%, United Airlines Holdings Inc UAL jumped 4.44%, and SanDisk Corp SNDK lifted 3.69%.
The biggest decliners were Phillips 66 PSX which dropped 6.90%, Humana Inc HUM fell 6.07%, and The Mosaic Co MOS lost 5.65%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.1% to 3,824.81 and the Shenzhen Composite Index declined 1.5% to 2,417.61.
Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 1.5% to 25,235.41.
Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average dropped 1.6% to 49,383.29.
India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX fell 0.6% to 84,679.86.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index slipped 0.7% to 9,684.79. In Europe, shares closed mixed. The Germany's DAX fell 0.6% to 24,076.87, and the France's CAC 40 was unchanged at 8,106.16
