NZ Sharemarket Falls 0.7%

The New Zealand sharemarket slipped more than 0.5% from its record high as it followed a weaker tone offshore.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index began steadily but had a soggy afternoon and closed at 13,659.79, down 97.92 points or 0.71% after reaching an intraday high of 13,757.71.

There were 61 gainers and 72 decliners, with 24.4 million shares traded for $93.7m.

'Some uncertainty along the way'

Grant Williamson, investment adviser with Hamilton Hindin Greene, said the last three or four trading days have seen some rises in beaten-down stocks – such as Heartland, SkyCity, Fletcher Building and Spark – as investors start to hunt out bargains.

These companies are undervalued, as long as they lift their financial performance, he said.

“Given the lacklustre year (in 2025), a lot of investors are hoping to see some nice gains this year – but because of the election, there may be some uncertainty along the way."

Offshore, the Japanese Nikkei 225 Index came off its high after falling 0.87% to 53,868.75 points by 6pm NZ time, and the Hong Kong Hang Seng was down 0.55% to 26,8852.31.

Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index bucked the trend, having gained 0.41% to 8,856.9 points.

In the United States, the S&P 500 declined 0.53% to 6,926.6 points; the Nasdaq Composite was down 1% to 23,471.75; and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 49,149.63, as a decline in bank shares weighed on markets.

Local stocks

Back home, the utilities investor Infratil was down 41c or 3.53% to $11.19. Williamson said the low volumes can push some prices around.

Market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare decreased 27c to $39.22; Meridian Energy declined 11c or 1.95% to $5.52; Gentrack eased 15c or 1.78% to $8.27; and Mainfreight was down $1.07 to $68.50.

Ebos Group slipped a further 22c to $26.18 as selling out of Australia continued. Ebos sat at $41.25 on Aug 21.

Ryman Healthcare, down 2c to $2.97, reported steady sales of 375, 101 new and 274 resales, during the third quarter ending December.

The full-year sales guidance is unchanged at 1,300–1,400 units.

As expected, new sales of independent living units eased following the opening of stage four of the Nellie Melba retirement village in Melbourne in the prior quarter, and new sales of serviced apartments were strong across NZ and Australia.

Ryman said: “While sales volumes are still rebuilding, we are encouraged by clear progress in key metrics like contract conversion and cancellation rates. Looking ahead, we expect continued market variability, but our focus remains firmly on driving sales effectiveness and controlling the factors within our reach.”

Williamson said the Ryman update was similar to the previous quarter – “it’s steady as she goes and overall acceptable. The market and investors want more evidence that the company has turned the corner.”

He said Ryman’s share price was well below its net tangible assets of $4 a share.

Fellow retirement village operators Summerset declined 32c to $12.18, and Oceania Healthcare was down 1.5c to 89.5c.

Other decliners were Vista Group shedding 15c or 6.38% to $2.20; Serko falling 20c or 6.15% to $3.05; Goodman Property Trust down 3.5c or 1.77% to $1.94; and Winton Land decreasing 10c or 4.31% to $2.22.

Used car dealership 2 Cheap Cars increased 7c or 12.5% to 63c after reporting improved trading through the latter part of the third quarter and early fourth quarter, underpinned by better vehicle margins.

The company now expects second-half net profit to reach or exceed $2m, and the full year to be at least $3m.

Channel Infrastructure, up 3c to $2.91, told the market that the fuel throughput of 945 litres for the quarter ending December was the highest since the import terminal operations began in 2022.

The three-month period was also the highest for jet fuel since the first quarter of 2019, while petrol and diesel throughput was higher than in the fourth quarter of 2024, Channel said.

AFT Pharmaceuticals was up 1c to $3.60 after updating the market on its international developments, including buying the hospital operations of Cape Town-based Pharma Dynamics.

AFT has signed an agreement with the UK’s Stablepharma to commercialise a new technology that will allow the storage of a range of injectables at room temperature rather than refrigerated conditions.

Source: BusinessDesk

Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 4 points higher at 8884.

- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market is trading at nine-week highs after notching a fourth straight session of gains, buoyed by investor appetite for miners and commodities stocks.

The S&P/ASX200 rose 41.1 points on Thursday, up 0.47 per cent, to 8,861.7, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 32.4 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 9,184.2.

Australia's leading indexes shrugged off two consecutive weak Wall Street sessions to post their highest daily closes in 49 days.

"This resilience is largely thanks to the resurgent ASX200 materials sector, which delivered its third successive fresh record high this week," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.

"The sector is up an impressive 8.5 per cent month-to-date driven by irrepressible demand for industrial and precious metals."

Raw materials led six of 11 local sectors higher with a 1.1 per cent push, supported by strength in iron ore giants BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue, while a big four bank advance helped push financials stocks 0.5 per cent higher.

BHP shares soared to their highest price since January 2024, settling 2.6 per cent higher to $49.37 by the close and narrowing in on the Commonwealth Bank's position as Australia's biggest company.

Bluescope shares jumped more than four per cent to $31 after investment giant Macquarie Group raised their price target for the steel producer to $34.05.

The boost came a day after Bluescope flagged plans to hand back $438 million in excess cash to shareholders, having rejected a takeover bid from Ryan Stokes' SGH Group and US-based producer Steel Dynamics.

Gold miners were mixed despite the precious metal hitting a fresh record overnight near $US4,643 ($A6,954) an ounce, with Northern Star up 1.4 per cent while most of the sub-sector edged lower.

ANZ was the best of the big banks, up 2.6 per cent to $37.32, followed by NAB with a 1.1 per cent lift as Westpac and CBA each gained roughly 0.5 per cent.

Major insurers were broadly lower, while payment providers Zip and Afterpay owner Block were among the worst of the bigger players in the sector, down 5.8 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively.

The energy sector surged to five-week highs during the session, despite a pullback in oil prices as US President Donald Trump claimed killings in Iran's nationwide crackdown on protesters were easing, tempering fears of US military intervention stoked a day earlier.

Woodside and Santos claimed modest gains, while coal producers and uranium stocks had a mixed session.

ASX-listed IT stocks came under renewed pressure, tumbling more than two per cent and tracking with weakness in Wall Street's tech-heavy Nasdaq, following renewed fears around artificial intelligence spending.

Tracking app Life360 slumped more than four per cent, while shares in accounting software Xero gave up a similar amount.

The healthcare sector is still trying climb its way out from multi-year lows, up 0.6 per cent on Thursday as segment giant CSL clawed back one per cent of 2025's nearly 40 per cent losses.

The Australian dollar is buying 66.77 US cents, down from 66.95 US cents on Wednesday at 5pm.

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 rose 41.1 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 8,861.7

The broader All Ordinaries rose by 32.4 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 9,184.2

The NZX 50 added 35.48 points (0.26%) to 13695.27

[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:

U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA rose 0.6% to 49,442.44, the S&P 500 added 0.3% to 6,944.47 and the Nasdaq gained 0.2% to 23,530.02.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were KLA Corp KLAC surging 7.73%, BlackRock Inc BLK jumped 5.93%, and NRG Energy Inc NRG lifted 5.79%.

The biggest decliners were Robinhood Markets Inc HOOD which dropped 7.80%, Coinbase Global Inc COIN fell 6.48%, and Charter Communications Inc CHTR lost 5.84%.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3% to 4,112.60 and the Shenzhen Composite Index declined 0.1% to 2,689.92.

Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 0.3% to 26,923.62.

Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average dropped 0.4% to 54,110.50.

India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX slipped 0.3% to 83,382.71.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.5% to 10,238.94. In Europe, shares closed mixed. The Germany's DAX added 0.3% to 25,352.39, and the France's CAC 40 fell 0.2% to 8,313.12