Market Announcements
Market Summary
Blue-chip stocks were hit as the New Zealand sharemarket fell more than 1% yesterday following the big sell-off on Wall Street. The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell at the opening but steadied in the afternoon and closed at 13,417.17, down 156,76 points or 1.15% – the biggest single-day fall in two months after declining 1.16% to 13,342.82 points on Nov 18. The index has now fallen nearly 1% this year. There were 105 decliners and just 34 gainers on the main board with 31.6 million shares worth $146.7m changing hands.
Ebos Group, down 20c to $26, again topped the volumes list with trade worth $41.11m.
Wall Street had its worst trading day in three months because of concerns over United States and European trade tensions and President Donald Trump’s grab for Greenland for “world security reasons.” Trump has threatened 10% additional tariffs on imports into the US from eight EU NATO countries, starting on Feb 1 and escalating to 25% on June 1, “until such time as a deal is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland”.
At home, many of the leading stocks were covered in red. Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 20c to $38.40; Auckland International Airport declined 22c or 2.59% to $8.26; Infratil eased 15c to $11; Contact Energy decreased 11c to $9.20; and Fletcher Building gave up the gain of the day before, falling 10c or 2.57% to $3.79. Retirement village operators Summerset was down 22c, or 1.8%, to $12, and Ryman Healthcare decreased 8c, or 2.68%, to $2.90. A2 Milk decreased 15c to $9.55; Hallenstein Glasson was down 13c to $9.72; Tower shed 6c or 3.06% to $1.90; The Warehouse fell 2.5c or 3.25% to 74.5c; and NZX shed 3c or 1.91% to $1.54.
Meridian Energy decreased 14c or 2.46% to $5.55 after telling the market that generation at this stage of the financial year was up 13%, and retail sales volumes increased 12% compared with the previous corresponding period. Total connections were 19.5% higher than in December 2024. In the month to Jan 12, national hydro storage fell from 153% to 115% of the historical average. So far this financial year, total inflows are 144% of the historical average, the second-highest July-to-December period on record. Meridian said, “We’ve begun this year in a very strong position when it comes to hydro storage. A wet spring and early summer have been good for the company and broader electricity market." As a result, wholesale electricity prices have stayed low, Meridian said. Its average generation sales price was less than $7 per megawatt-hour (MWh) in December and $77 for the first half of the financial year.
Mercury, down 3c to $6.47, said in its quarterly update that the high hydro inflows meant wholesale spot prices averaged $40 per MWh in Auckland, and forward prices for the region have eased considerably to $135 per MWh. Hydro generation was up 23% to 1072GWh compared with the previous corresponding period of 872GWh, and national demand increased 3.1% for the quarter, mainly due to the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter resuming normal operations, Mercury said.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 17 points higher at 8810.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has fallen for a third straight session as a slump in global risk sentiment weighed on stocks, sending investors flocking towards gold and other "real" commodities.
The S&P/ASX200 fell 33 points on Wednesday, down 0.37 per cent, to 8,782.9, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 30 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 9,108.6.
It was the local bourse's third day of losses since US President Donald Trump threatened to slap tariffs on European allies if they failed to hand over Greenland to the United States.
"With trade-war rhetoric resurfacing and regional unease rising, markets remain highly sensitive to macro risks and prone to sharp, sentiment-driven pullbacks," Vantage senior market analyst Hebe Chen told AAP.
"Gold miners clearly stood out today, with Evolution Mining extending its strong run after delivering record-setting results that reinforced its earnings momentum and balance-sheet strength."
Record gold prices above $US4,870 ($A7,233) an ounce helped propel the raw materials sector 2.5 per cent higher, while financial stocks tumbled 1.6 per cent as Commonwealth Bank shares fell 2.2 per cent to $147.22, their lowest value since April 2025.
CBA's remaining big four competitors dropped between 1.2 per cent and 2.1 per cent.
Gold producer Emerald Resources outperformed the top-200, rocketing more than 12 per cent higher after the mineralisation estimate for its Memot project in Cambodia grew 27 per cent.
Critical minerals miners also performed well, with Liontown and PLS shares jumping more than 3.8 per cent each.
Lynas Rare Earths carved out a nearly seven per cent share price boost on soaring December quarter revenues, as surging commodity prices eclipsed a 30 per cent drop in production due to power outages.
The energy and utilities sectors rose more than 0.9 per cent each, as oil prices ticked higher during the session, while coal miners and Origin continued to lift a day after Origin extended the life of Australia's largest coal-fired power station.
Uranium stocks also caught a bid, but Paladin Energy was in a league of its own with a more than 13 per cent rally after upping quarterly production by a fifth and targeted full-year production at the upper end of guidance.
It was the best performer of the S&P/ASX200.
ASX-listed IT stocks sold off sharply, dropping 2.5 per cent after a grim lead from the Nasdaq overnight as US markets opened after a bank holiday, and after Netflix earnings show subscriber growth was slowing.
Accounting software Xero plummeted 5.2 per cent to $98.90, while WiseTech and Technology One fell more than two and three per cent respectively.
Consumer discretionaries were also hit hard, the sector down more than two per cent in a broad-based sell-off with significant drops for Wesfarmers (-2.7 per cent), JB Hi-Fi (-3.5 per cent) and Cettire (-10.7 per cent).
Real estate trusts were also a sea of red, down 1.6 per cent and tracking with similar losses in names like Goodman, Scentre and GPT Group.
The Australian dollar is buying 67.36 US cents, on par with Tuesday at 5pm.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 fell 33 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 8,782.9
The broader All Ordinaries dipped by 30 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 9,108.6
The NZX 50 added 43.80 points (0.33%) to 13460.97
Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):
FleetPartners Group Limited
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA added 1.2% to 49,077.23, the S&P 500 lifted 1.2% to 6,875.62 and the Nasdaq added 1.2% to 23,224.82.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Moderna Inc MRNA surging 15.72%, Intel Corp INTC jumped 11.65%, and SanDisk Corp SNDK lifted 10.48%.
The biggest decliners were AppLovin Corp APP which dropped 5.83%, The Kraft Heinz Co KHC fell 5.72%, and Oracle Corp ORCL lost 3.36%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lifted 0.1% to 4,116.94 and the Shenzhen Composite Index climbed 0.6% to 2,694.89.
Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 0.4% to 26,585.06.
Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.4% to 52,774.64.
India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX dropped 0.3% to 81,909.63.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index added 0.1% to 10,138.09. In Europe, shares closed mixed. The Germany's DAX declined 0.6% to 24,560.98, and the France's CAC 40 lifted 0.1% to 8,069.17
