Market Announcements
Market Summary
Ebos Group and Fletcher Building both had strong bounces as the New Zealand sharemarket closed the week with a solid gain of nearly 0.5%.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index climbed steadily all day and closed at 13,718.1, up 58.31 points or 0.43% – with a mid-afternoon intraday high of 13,749.47.
The index has risen 1.3% year to date in 2026.
There were 94 gainers and 40 decliners on the main board with 43.9 million shares worth $171.9m changing hands.
‘Weakness and wariness’
Manufacturing activity in NZ is now the highest in four years, according to the BNZ-BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI).
The index reached 56.1 in December, up from 51.4 in November – its best reading since December 2021 and well above the long-term survey of 52.5.
The better-than-expected PMI update was another sign that the economy is recovering, although some were seeing weakness in the number of business closures.
The increased activity was benefiting companies like Fletcher Building and Mainfreight. Fletcher was still cautious in its trading update, but there was a better tone towards economic activity.
Fletcher rose 12c or 3.18% to $3.89, and Mainfreight was up 49c to $68.99.
Ebos Group increased 28c to $26.46.
Infratil, which traded at $12.67 in early November, was up 7c to $11.26 on the back of a recovery in overseas tech stocks.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, a major supplier to the industry, reported stronger quarterly profit than analysts expected and said it could boost its equipment investment to US$56 billion (NZ$97.2b) to take advantage of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
Nvidia was up 2.1% to US$186.99. The continued demand for chips was positive for datacentres, and this benefited Infratil. There had been quite a debate about the capital expenditure for AI.
There was also a bounce-back in NZ tech stocks.
Other stocks
Vista Group increased 5c or 2.27% to $2.25; Gentrack was up 19c or 2.3% to $8.46; Blackpearl Group added 5c or 5.26% to $1; and Eroad gained 3c or 2.36% to $1.30.
Fintech stock PaySauce, down 0.005c or 1.79% to 27.5c, earlier reported record annual recurring revenue of $9.4m for the December quarter, including an 11% increase in year-on-year processing fees to $1.8m. This offset a 25% reduction in interest revenue.
The dual-listed banking groups had a good day, with Westpac rising $1.24, or 2.79%, to $45.73, and ANZ up 42c to $43.41.
The financial institutions had a better day in the United States. BlackRock increased 5.93% to US$1,156.65, and Goldman Sachs rose 4.63% to US$975.86 after reporting improved quarterly profits.
Back home, Santana Minerals increased 4c or 3.27% to $1.26, and 2 Cheap Cars was up 2c or 3.17% to 65c after its positive quarterly update.
Heavily traded Ryman Healthcare was down 8c or 2.69% to $2.89, with 4.33m shares worth $12.6m changing hands a day after reporting steady quarterly sales.
Fellow retirement village stock Summerset, which provides an update next week, gained 22c or 1.81% to $12.40.
There was heavy trading in energy stocks on the quarterly rebalancing of the S&P Global Clean Energy Index. Contact was up 10c to $9.36 on trade worth $27.11m; Meridian gained 7c to $5.59; and Mercury also added 3c to $6.48 on trade worth $11.7m.
Source: BusinessDesk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 1 points lower at 8923.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has ended the week at its highest level since October, supported by resurgent banks as a record-breaking run for materials stocks lost steam.
The S&P/ASX200 rose 42.2 points on Friday, up 0.48 per cent, to 8,903.9, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 42.5 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 9,226.7.
The top-200 had its best week since November, up 2.1 per cent despite a multi-record-breaking run in raw materials stocks fading in the final session, with the heavyweight financials sector keeping the momentum going with a one per cent boost.
The uptick for local banks came after US investment giants Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley hit record highs overnight following earnings reports that outshone expectations.
"Good financial conditions and the fact the US banks have done well is playing out to local investors looking and thinking, 'well, hang on, we're still seven per cent off our highs in the financial sector here and by and large, there's still some value to be had'," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore told AAP.
Westpac led its big four competitors higher with a 1.8 per cent gain to $39.19, while Commonwealth Bank shares traded 0.5 per cent higher to $154.30, unable to break free from a seven-day trading range.
"By and large, it's been a really solid week, and just a little bit of changing of the guard at the end of this week, after a particularly good run by the big mining stocks," Mr Sycamore said.
The raw materials sector eased 0.2 per cent on Friday, running into profit-taking after resetting its record three times during the week, ultimately securing 3.8 per cent of gains.
BHP was heavy, down 0.8 per cent in the final session to $48.99, as iron ore prices eased to $US107.68 a tonne, but Rio Tinto and Fortescue edged higher as they played catch-up with their bigger rival.
Gold producers were mostly higher, as the precious metal hovered about US4,600 ($A6,860) an ounce, less than one per cent from record highs after geopolitical uncertainty drove safe-haven buying during the week.
Catalyst Metals was the top-200's best performer on Friday, rocketing more than 14 per cent higher to $9 after Bell Potter boosted its price target for the gold miner to $13.50 following a solid quarterly update.
Energy stocks underperformed, down 0.7 per cent after oil prices rolled over from recent highs as US President Donald Trump played down the likelihood of US intervention in Iran after weeks of protests and a bloody crackdown by the Islamic Republic.
Woodside, Santos and Ampol all slipped lower while most coal producers and uranium stocks caught a bid.
Real estate stocks jumped 1.1 per cent, with no clear macroeconomic catalyst, while consumer staples jumped a similar amount to end the week roughly flat.
ASX-listed tech companies rebounded after a rough week, tracking with Wall Street's tech-heavy Nasdaq index, which lifted overnight on solid results from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which temporarily eased recent jitters about AI investment.
In company news, Capstone Corp shares bounced more than seven per cent after it posted record copper production in 2025, despite the base metal rolling over from record highs in the two recent sessions.
Shares in building materials producer James Hardie rallied more than two per cent after it announced plans to close three manufacturing plants in the US.
The Australian dollar is buying 67.02 US cents, up from 66.77 US cents on Thursday at 5pm.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 rose 42.2 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 8,903.9
The broader All Ordinaries rose by 42.5 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 9,226.7
The NZX 50 Lost -10.39 points (-0.08%) to 13707.71
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended lower. The DJIA slipped 0.2% to 49,359.33, the S&P 500 dropped 0.1% to 6,940.01 and the Nasdaq slipped 0.1% to 23,515.39.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Super Micro Computer Inc SMCI surging 10.98%, Micron Technology Inc MU jumped 7.74%, and Moderna Inc MRNA lifted 6.30%.
The biggest decliners were Constellation Energy Corp CEG which dropped 9.82%, Vistra Corp VST fell 7.48%, and Amcor PLC AMCR lost 7.31%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3% to 4,101.91 and the Shenzhen Composite Index declined 0.1% to 2,686.56.
Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 0.3% to 26,844.96.
Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average slipped 0.3% to 53,936.17.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX climbed 0.2% to 83,570.35.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished flat. The FTSE 100 Index was unchanged at 10,235.29. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX fell 0.2% to 25,297.13, and the France's CAC 40 dropped 0.7% to 8,258.94
