NZ Market Rises As Outlooks Surprise

The New Zealand sharemarket raced closer to its record high on Friday on the back of a solid reporting season and brighter outlooks that have surprised some analysts. It was a choppy session but the S&P/NZX 50 Index had a late surge and closed at 13,722,97, up 52.26 points or 0.38% after hitting an intraday low of 13,635.07. The index hit its peak on January 14 when it closed at 13,757.71 points, and is up 1.3% for the year to date and 9.4% for the last 12 months. There was a flurry of heavy trading in the leading stocks because of the quarterly rebalancing of the MSCI indices, with 63.47 million shares worth $351.79 million changing hands.

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index fell from 107.2 to 100.1 in February, more than unwinding January’s sharp rise. “While there is still residual support coming through from past monetary easing, stagnant house price momentum, a loose labour market, and lingering cost-of-living pressures mean it’s still tough going out there for many households,” said ANZ Research.

Infratil was up 27c or 2.47% to $11.22 on trade worth $37.5m.

Transtasman clothing retailer Hallenstein Glasson rose 33c or 3.38% to $10.10 after revealing preliminary results that showed total sales for the six months ending February 1 increased 14.6% to $275.2m.  Net profit is expected to be $39.3m-$39.8m, up 32.1% on the previous corresponding period ($29.9m).

Cinema software management company Vista Group surged 18.5c or 10.85% to $1.89 after forecasting 10-13% growth in revenue to $176m-$182m for the 2026 financial year.  Vista said it has secured major commitments to Vista Cloud, including 312 Odeon sites, Kinepolis (109) and Village Cinemas Australia (24 sites).  For the 2025 financial year, Vista reported a 9.5% increase in revenue to $164.3m and net profit of $2.6m. Operating earnings (ebitda) were up 31% to $28.2m.

Port of Tauranga increased 15c or 1.9% to $8.05 after increasing full-year net profit guidance to $142m-$152m as it reported revenue of $244.13m, up 8.5%, and profit of $70.21m, up 16.6%, for the six months ending December. The port company is paying an interim dividend of 8c a share on March 20. Container volumes increased 2.6% to 607,114 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) for the half-year, imports were up 5.3% to 4.7 million tonnes, and exports decreased 1% to 7.9 million tonnes, reflecting lower log and dairy volumes.

Retirement village operator Summerset was down 5c to $10.66 after reporting a 13% increase in revenue to $361.77m and a 21.8% decrease in net profit to $259.72m for the 12 months ending December. Summerset said the profit fall was largely driven by the impact of lower median house prices on revaluations of the company’s portfolio. It is paying a final dividend of 13.2c a share on March 26. Summerset’s total annual sales of 1560 were up 26%, with 805 new and 755 resales. It now has 5499 new homes and 1173 care homes in New Zealand and Australia.

Seeka gained 13c or 2.56% to $5.21 after reporting a 6.9% increase in annual revenue to $439.6m and net profit of $31.96m, a turnaround of 265%. It is paying a final dividend of 25c a share on April 15.   The Te Puke-based company said it benefited from an excellent kiwifruit growing season that delivered a record 47.1 million trays. Fruit quality was high.

Channel Infrastructure decreased 3c to $2.88 after reporting steady revenue of $140.18m and a 19% fall in net profit to $20.94m for the year ending December. It is paying a final dividend of 6.75c a share on March 26. The company said its plan for growth is centred on delivering the Marsden Point Energy Precinct, which will be transformational for Northland.  Channel is expecting operating earnings (ebitda) of $95m-$100m in the 2026 financial year compared with $93.4m in the year just completed. This includes jet fuel growth of 2%.

Source: Business Desk

Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 20 points lower at 9150.

- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has reset its record close for a second time in as many days despite a modest uptick to end the week.

The S&P/ASX200 rose 23.3 points on Friday, up 0.25 per cent to 9,198.6, and up 3.7 per cent in February, as it notched its best close.

The broader All Ordinaries gained 26.9 points, or 0.29 per cent, to a record close of 9,435.6.

It was a third straight week and month of gains for both indices, which have pipped several intraday and closing record highs since Monday.

Local equities have been buoyed by strong local earnings and a global rotation from IT stocks into other sectors, particularly commodities, as investor appetites shift from eye-watering tech growth to sturdier, finite resources.

"Australian shares are a key beneficiary of the rotation trade, helped by the now concluded December half-earnings reporting season confirming that listed company profits are rising again," AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said.

The local bourse is up 5.5 per cent in 2026, compared to 2.8 per cent for global stocks, almost two-thirds of which are US shares.

Seven of 11 local sectors ended the day higher, led by communications, utilities and basic materials stocks, as consumer staples tumbled in the wake of Coles' first-half earnings miss.

Materials continued to do much of the heavy lifting, up one per cent on Friday and 8.7 per cent higher in February, as the sector wrapped a remarkable eight months of gains to trade at record highs.

Gold stocks improved on Friday despite a quiet session for the precious metal, which hovered about $5,916 ($A7,286) an ounce.

Iron ore and copper giant BHP reset its all-time high every session this week, settling at $58.41 heading into the weekend after soaring almost 29 per cent this year.

The heavyweight financials sector was up an impressive 8.5 per cent for February and trading at its highest level, despite tipping lower on Friday.

Energy stocks ended the week higher as tensions and talks between the US and Iran continue over the Islamic republic's nuclear ambitions.

ASX-listed gas, oil, coal and uranium stocks all ticked higher on Friday.

Consumer staples hit a brick wall after rallying on the back of Woolworths' bumper earnings update earlier this week, tumbling 2.7 per cent as competitor Coles' financials failed to impress.

Despite some one-off impacts in the report, it appeared Coles had lost some of its hard-fought lead over Woolworths, IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.

"This is classic duopoly ping-pong, where one surges, the other counters and overall, what we're seeing is basically the equivalent of a dodgy trolley race through the parking lot at peak hour," Mr Sycamore told AAP.

"It keeps things interesting, but the finishing line is a long way away."

Consumer cyclicals largely missed their invitation to the earnings party, down 6.6 per cent for February, which began with an interest rate hike and ended with Harvey Norman tumbling nine per cent despite boosting sales and revenue.

While the bulk of the December earnings season has drawn to a close, PointsBet, West African Resources and Endeavour Group will hand down results next week.

Financials from casino owner-operator Star Entertainment were due on Friday, but have not been released, as it continues to work on a debt deal with Private Capital Partners.

The Australian dollar is buying 71.26 US cents, down from 71.34 US cents on Thursday at 5pm, looming near three-year highs as NAB and ANZ economists tip a further Reserve Bank interest rate hike by May.

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 gained 23.3 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 9,198.6

The broader All Ordinaries rose 26.9 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 9,435.6

The NZX 50 Lost -164.39 points (-1.21%) to 13558.58

Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):

Amotiv Limited

Aurizon Holdings Limited

Fortescue Ltd

Newmont Corporation

Nick Scali Limited

Origin Energy Limited

Pinnacle Investment Management Group Limited

PWR Holdings Limited

Regal Partners Limited

Reliance Worldwide Corporation Limited

Steadfast Group Limited

Tabcorp Holdings Limited

[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:

U.S. stocks ended lower. The DJIA dropped 1.1% to 48,977.92, the S&P 500 slipped 0.4% to 6,878.88 and the Nasdaq declined 0.9% to 22,668.21.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Dell Technologies Inc DELL surging 21.81%, Paramount Skydance Corp PSKY jumped 21.02%, and Block Inc XYZ lifted 16.82%.

The biggest decliners were United Airlines Holdings Inc UAL which dropped 8.68%, Apollo Global Management Inc APO fell 8.56%, and American Express Co AXP lost 7.97%.

Asia

Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.4% to 4,162.88 and the Shenzhen Composite Index climbed 0.3% to 2,763.59.

Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 0.9% to 26,630.54.

Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average climbed 0.2% to 58,850.27.

India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX dropped 1.2% to 81,287.19.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index added 0.6% to 10,910.55. In Europe, shares closed mixed. The Germany's DAX was unchanged at 25,284.26, and the France's CAC 40 fell 0.5% to 8,580.75