Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket was largely flat on Wednesday as in-line results from reporting companies did little to surprise investors. The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 0.05% or 6.729 points to 13,525.58 after 36.95 million shares, worth $154.26 million, were traded. The S&P/NZX 20 index was down 0.29%, closing at 7673.82 points, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 13,094.46 after falling 0.05%. There were 86 gainers on the main board and 54 decliners.
Hamilton Hindin Greene investment adviser Jeremy Sullivan said it had been an interesting day on the market, driven by announcements by blue-chip companies.
Results season continued with health and animal care firm Ebos Group, reporting a 13% lift in revenue over its first half. The company said the revenue growth was driven by new customer wins and demand for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and other high-value medicines, as well as the expansion of its retail pharmacy brands and continued growth in medical technology. Sullivan believed investors would be saddened to see margin pressure at Ebos at 4.4%, down 50 basis points. “When you’ve only got 4.4% of margin, to lose 0.5% is material,” Sullivan said. “A bit of a transition year for them really. They’ve reaffirmed their guidance, but the second half is really where it’s going to need to stack up and have normalisation of their earnings and the operating leverage that they’re investing in hopefully builds.” Ebos’ share price lifted 0.33% or 8c to $24.08 after $6.7m was traded.
Elsewhere, Meridian Energy reported a $227m net profit, driven by favourable wind and hydro power generation conditions. The result compared with a $121m loss in the first half of 2025, which was affected by a gas shortage and poor hydro conditions. Sullivan said Meridian could thank the weather for its result. “Mother Nature came to the party after a pretty horrific winter 2024, with the operating cashflow of $336m rebounding from last year’s drought. “Solid earnings from our largest electricity generator, but not surprising given the change in weather conditions. It’s a pretty clean example of how sensitive the gentailers are to hydrology and wind.” Meridian Energy’s share price fell 3.14% or 18c to $5.56 after 1.1 million shares worth $6.2m changed hands.
Meanwhile, agribusiness firm Scales Corp more than tripled its annual net profit to $101m in 2025, driven by a strong performance from its horticulture business. Its share price fell 0.48% or 3c to $6.27. In other news, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare lifted late in the session, up 1.03% or 41c to $40.10, Infratil fell 1% or 11c down to $10.86, while Contact Energy fell 0.86% or 8c to $9.25 after shares worth $12.7m were traded.
Sullivan said to watch out on Thursday for results from Precinct Properties, Heartland Group and Air NZ.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 60 points higher at 9140.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has broken multiple records as earnings season delivers more outsized company-level moves for bigger players, while mining stocks remain hot assets.
The S&P/ASX200 surged 106 points on Wednesday, up 1.17 per cent, to 9,128.3, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 114.7 points, or 1.24 per cent, to 9,359.
The top-200 index hit a fresh intraday peak of 9,130.3, and settled at a close above 9,100 points for the first time.
The All Ordinaries ended the session roughly 56 points short of its highest value and 31 points from October 2025's best-ever close.
Strong performances from basic materials, along with IT stocks and consumer cyclicals as two respective segment giants beat earnings expectations, helped clinch the record-breaking session.
It was an optimistic performance, but based somewhat in reality for miners as commodity prices - particularly industrial commodities - were trading at higher prices than 2026 forecasts, Moomoo market strategist Michael McCarthy said.
"So commodity prices don't have to do anything but stay right where they are to justify higher prices for commodity exposed stocks," Mr McCarthy told AAP.
"But the big story, if we take a step back from the market, is the huge reactions we're seeing in individual stocks - individual stock volatility has exploded."
Interim financial results were behind Wednesday's biggest moves, with Tabcorp, Droneshield, Woolworths and WiseTech each soaring more than 10 per cent, while Domino's was hammered to a similar degree in the opposite direction after its update.
Tabcorp's massive 23.5 per cent charge came after its first-half operating earnings of $217 million smashed forecasts by more than a tenth.
At a sector level, consumer discretionaries and IT stocks clocked gains of more than five per cent each, while raw materials jumped 2.7 per cent.
Iron ore giant BHP hit a fresh record for a third straight session to settle at its highest-ever close of $56.51, while Fortescue sailed 4.7 per cent higher after boosting its half-year profit by 23 per cent to $US1.9 billion ($A2.7 billion).
Gold miners were mostly higher as the precious metal gained one per cent over the session to trade at $US5,198 ($A7,312) an ounce, lifting the All Ordinaries gold sub-sector two per cent.
Critical minerals also caught bids, with particularly solid gains from Liontown (+9.4 per cent) and Lynas Rare Earths (+8.0 per cent).
The financial sector carved out a 0.6 per cent improvement, tracking with modest gains from the big four banks, but insurers were mixed and have remained under selling pressure amid fears around artificial intelligence disruption to the sector.
Energy stocks advanced 0.9 per cent as Woodside shares rallied for a second day after it reported record full-year production despite softer oil prices.
Uranium stocks also pushed higher as risk-on sentiment returned, following a strong lead from US tech stocks overnight, and as enrichment technology company Silex Systems traded more than seven per cent higher on the back of its trading update.
The Australian dollar is buying 71.09 US cents, up from 70.65 US cents on Tuesday at 5pm AEDT, firming after January inflation figures came in hotter than expected and narrowed bets on future interest rate hikes.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 gained 106 points, or 1.17 per cent, to 9,128.3
The broader All Ordinaries rose 114.7 points, or 1.24 per cent, to 9,359
The NZX 50 Lost -5.76 points (-0.04%) to 13519.82
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA gained 0.6% to 49,482.15, the S&P 500 rose 0.8% to 6,946.13 and the Nasdaq gained 1.3% to 23,152.08.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Axon Enterprise Inc AXON surging 17.55%, Coinbase Global Inc COIN jumped 13.55%, and Super Micro Computer Inc SMCI lifted 7.93%.
The biggest decliners were GoDaddy Inc GDDY which dropped 14.44%, First Solar Inc FSLR fell 13.43%, and CoStar Group Inc CSGP lost 8.74%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7% to 4,147.23 and the Shenzhen Composite Index lifted 1.2% to 2,746.26.
Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 0.7% to 26,765.72.
Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average gained 2.2% to 58,583.12.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX added 0.1% to 82,276.07.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index gained 1.2% to 10,806.41. In Europe, shares closed higher. The Germany's DAX climbed 0.8% to 25,175.94, and the France's CAC 40 rose 0.5% to 8,559.07
