NZ Sharemarket Continues Downward Slide As Other Markets Rally

The New Zealand sharemarket was lower for the third day running, and this time became the odd one out as indices rallied in the Asia-Pacific region. The S&P/NZX 50 Index drifted in a quiet day of trading, closing at 13,635.07, down 16.15 points, or 0.12%. There were 60 gainers and 71 decliners on the main board, with 27.4 million shares worth $106.8m changing hands.

In the US, markets were boosted by the softer inflation rate and a rebound in semiconductor stocks. The Consumer Price Index in June fell to 0.4%, bringing the annual inflation rate to 3.5%, below the market consensus of 3.8%. This prompted commentators to suggest that the Federal Reserve would delay increasing interest rates.

Across Asia Pacific, the S&P/ASX 200 Index was up 0.28% to 8,833 points at 6pm NZ time; the Japanese Nikkei 225 gained 1.1%; the Hong Kong Hang Seng rose 1.62%; and the South Korean Kospi index rose 5.89%. Oil prices were off their highs after President Donald Trump abandoned his demand that ships pay a 20% fee to transit the Strait of Hormuz. However, US forces carried out another round of strikes in Iran as the naval blockade of Iranian ports was reinstated. Brent Crude oil was trading at US$85.14 (NZ$146.33) a barrel.

Summerset declined 17c or 1.95% to $8.55; Ryman Healthcare was up 2c to $2.16; and Oceania Healthcare was unchanged at 74.5c. The Real Estate Institute of NZ (REINZ) House Price Index was down 0.3% in June, compared with a 0.2% fall in the same month last year. Sales volumes eased slightly further to 0.8%, down from the previous 0.4%. ANZ said rising interest rates, election uncertainty, and the economic impacts of continued tensions in the Middle East are set to keep the housing market subdued this year. “Looking through the monthly volatility, average nationwide house prices have been almost exactly flat over the first six months of the year rather than drifting down as per our forecast (a 2% fall over 2026). “The balance of risks is now towards prices staying close to flat this year or declining only very slightly,” ANZ said.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare eased 22c to $39.53; Mainfreight decreased 67c to $61.33; a2 Milk was down 17c, or 1.98%, to $8.40; and SkyTV decreased 6c, or 1.77%, to $3.33. Metro Performance Glass fell 10c, or 8.33%, to $1.10; Winton Land was down 3c, or 2.31%, to $1.27; and PaySauce decreased 2c, or 8.7%, to 21c. Hallenstein Glasson increased by 27c, or 2.63%, to $10.52; Freightways was up 21c to $14.06; Delegat Group added 22c, or 5.39%, to $4.30; Bremworth added 5c, or 7.14%, to 75c; and Blackpearl Group rose 3c, or 5.66%, to 56c.

Channel Infrastructure, down 2c to $3.23, reported a 2% decrease in total fuel throughput to 802m litres for the three months ending June, compared with the same period last year. Diesel throughput was steady, and jet fuel was slightly down due to a reduction in flights by Middle East carriers.

Auckland International Airport, up 2c at $8.55, reported a 4% decline in total passengers to 1.32m in June. International passenger movements were down 4% to 722,456, and domestic passenger movements were down 5% to 597,413, compared with the same month last year. The airport company said the decreases reflected the continued effect of capacity reductions. Domestic aircraft movements were down 9%.

Source: Business Desk

Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 1 points lower at 8851.

15th July 2026 - close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has pared early gains for a modest advance, despite BHP counterbalancing an underwhelming day for the bourse.

The S&P/ASX200 rose 32.6 points on Wednesday, up 0.37 per cent, to 8,841.1, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 33.3 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 9,034.6.

The top-200 surged more than 75 points in early trade but handed back more than half of those gains by the close as momentum faded, as traders looked to tech-focused markets for volatility.

"Investors are just not looking at the Australian market as closely as some of the other ones at the moment - Korea is where the big dogs are playing at the moment," Pepperstone head of research Chris Weston told AAP.

"As an international destination for capital, Australia is not really ticking a huge amount of boxes right now."

Mega miner BHP did some heavy lifting, up more than three per cent to $60.56 as iron ore futures advanced on the tail of better-than-expected industrial production figures from China, despite June quarter GDP undershooting forecasts.

Rio Tinto notched a 1.1 per cent advance after it held its 2026 financial year production guidance steady.

Gold miners were broadly lower, as the precious metal eased to $US4,030 ($A5,769) an ounce, as Evolution dragged on the sub-index after it flagged cost increases in its June quarter update.

Elsewhere in raw materials, battery minerals and rare earths producers improved as the sector gained 1.7 per cent.

Energy stocks eased 0.6 per cent, as oil's recent rally ran out of steam and investors took profits on recent rallies in Woodside, Santos and refinery operators Ampol and Viva Energy.

The heavyweight financials sector ended the session almost 0.2 per cent higher, thanks in part to a strong rally from Macquarie and a late rebound in CommBank shares to $170, as Westpac, NAB and ANZ bled lower.

Local banks still faced negative expectations of near-term returns for house prices, made worse by concerns the Reserve Bank might not be finished hiking interest rates, Mr Weston said.

Communications stocks underperformed the other sectors with a 1.2 per cent drop, as Telstra fell to $4.89, its weakest close since February as the fallout from the previous week's outage grinds on.

Consumer-facing stocks were in the red, with staples shedding almost 0.6 per cent in a broad-based slump, while cyclicals lost 0.2 per cent.

In company news, Webjet shares soared five per cent after it appointed former Wesfarmers and Australia Post executive Nicole Sheffield as managing director and CEO.

Goldman Sachs downgraded Pexa, sparking a more than three per cent sell-off in the property settlements platform.

The Australian dollar is buying 69.86 US cents, up from 69.28 US cents on Tuesday at 5pm, as the greenback eased after a drop in US inflation softened the Federal Reserve interest rate outlook.

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 gained 32.6 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 8,841.1

The broader All Ordinaries advanced 33.3 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 9,034.6

The NZX 50 Lost -16.15 points (-0.12%) to 13,635.07 while the Nikkei gained 1008.01 points (1.47%) at the time of writing, to be closed at 68,751.51

[Morningstar with Dow Jones]: U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA was changed at 52,658.64, the S&P 500 climbed 0.38% to 7,572.40 and the Nasdaq gained 0.62% to 26,269.23.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL surging 16.20%, BlackRock Inc BLK jumped 7.63%, and CBRE Group Inc CBRE lifted 6.77%.

The biggest decliners were Pentair plc PNR which dropped 15.35%, Sandisk Corp SNDK fell 13.06%, and Dell Technologies Inc DELL lost 12.11%.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.29% to 3,955.58. (Note: Market indices tracking specific Shenzhen composite groupings varied, but the primary broad Shenzhen Component Index rose 2.77% to 14,924.87 the session prior).

Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 1.40% to 24,681.10.

Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.49% to 68,751.51.

India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX rose 0.17% to 77,185.43.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index dipped 0.13% to 10,515.92. In Europe, shares closed mixed. Germany's DAX fell 0.59% to 24,999.53, and France's CAC 40 rose 0.19% to 8,382.43.