NZX Up 0.45% As Investors Await Earnings

The New Zealand stock market edged up on a slow day of trading as investors paused before the upcoming earnings season. The benchmark S&P/NZX 50 closed 0.45% higher on Monday at 12,910.74 points. The index has steadily gained since June, but remains over 1% down in the year-to-date.  22.7 million shares valued at $74 million changed hands.

There was very light turnover in certain names.  Fisher & Paykel Healthcare had a late surge helping volumes to reach 144,000. The stock rose 0.74% to $36.57.

Auckland Airport was up 1.43% to $7.78, and Freightways lifted 1.77% to $11.51, on trading volumes worth over $2m.

Spark shares gained 0.4% to $2.49 after it unveiled a board refresh and appointed three new independent directors. Alongside the announcement, chair Justine Smyth gave the first official indication that the company was looking for her replacement, saying, “The board’s process for chair succession will continue".

Infrastructure investment firm Infratil was up 2.18% to $11.70 and is now up by more than 10% in the last month. After peaking at $13.15 in October, Infratil's share price started falling late last year, sinking below $10 in April before recovering. In that time, a series of ongoing disclosure and substantial product holder (SPH) notices on the NZX show executives and directors of Infratil and its management company, Morrison & Co, progressively increasing their exposure.

US Small-cap skincare company Me Today shares fell 1.18% to 8.4 cents after announcing it had failed to find a buyer for its struggling honey operation, King Honey.  2 Cheap Cars Group shares were down 1.56% to 63 cents after it told the market that while it expects vehicle sales to exceed those in 2025, it anticipates net profit after tax (Npat) to fall year-on-year.

In world markets, United States futures lifted after Washington sealed a trade deal with the European Union. The EU accepted a broad 15% tariff on major exports and committed to spending hundreds of billions of dollars on US energy and defence products.

Source: Business Desk

Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 19 points higher at 8582.

- close [Morningstar with AAP]: The local share market has finished higher after the US and the European Union agreed on a preliminary trade deal, greatly easing fears of a global trade war.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Monday closed up 30.8 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 8,697.7, while the broader All Ordinaries rose 29.2 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 8,963.5.

During a meeting at Donald Trump's Scottish golf course over the weekend, the US President and his EU counterpart announced they had reached agreement on the framework for a trade deal, days before a US-imposed Friday deadline to strike a bargain.

But details remain vague and nebulous.

Traders were also watching for this week's Federal Reserve meeting.

Despite Mr Trump's pressure campaign, a rate cut is considered unlikely, with the futures market giving it just three per cent implied odds.

ANZ's research team said it would look at any tweaks to the language of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee statement, as well as comments from Fed chair Jerome Powell that might signal the September meeting was "live" for a rate cut.

Closer to home, the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday will release a second-quarter consumer price index readout that could determine whether the Reserve Bank cuts rates in August.

"At this point, a rate cut in August feels almost nailed on, but this week's data will need to reinforce the case that inflation is under control," eToro market analyst Josh Gilbert said.

Eight of the ASX's 11 sectors finished higher on Monday, with energy, materials and utilities lower.

In the energy sector, Boss Energy plunged 44 per cent to a more than three-year low of $1.905 after the uranium producer flagged challenges at its Honeymoon uranium mine in South Australia, which resumed production in 2024.

Drilling suggests the mine holds less uranium than thought, potentially impacting its forecast production target of 2.45 million pounds of yellowcake a year.

Other uranium companies finished lower as well, with Deep Yellow falling 8.4 per cent and Paladin dropping 4.4 per cent.

In the materials sector, BHP retreated 1.2 per cent to $40.30, Rio Tinto lost 1.6 per cent to $116.95 and Fortescue retreated 1.1 per cent to $18.14.

All of the big four banks were higher. CBA rose 1.2 per cent to $174.90, NAB advanced 0.7 per cent to $37.76, Westpac added 0.5 per cent to $33.21 and ANZ lifted 0.3 per cent to $30.31.

In the tech sector, WiseTech Global rose 0.3 per cent to $120.50 per cent after naming chief of staff Zubin Appoo as its new chief executive, as the logistics platform tries to move on from distracting governance issues involving billionaire co-founder Richard White.

The Australian dollar had dropped to a one-week low against its American counterpart, buying 65.50 US cents, from 65.81 US cents at 5pm on Friday.

ON THE ASX:

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Monday gained 30.8 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 8,697.7

The broader All Ordinaries rose 29.2 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 8,963.5

The NZX 50 added 17.38 points (0.13%) to 12928.12

[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:

U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA slipped 0.1% to 44,837.56, the S&P 500 was unchanged at 6,389.77 and the Nasdaq rose 0.3% to 21,178.58.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Super Micro Computer Inc SMCI surging 10.25%, Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD jumped 4.34%, and Diamondback Energy Inc FANG lifted 4.14%.

The biggest decliners were Albemarle Corp ALB which dropped 10.74%, Revvity Inc RVTY fell 8.32%, and Centene Corp CNC lost 5.38%.

Asia

Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1% to 3,597.94 and the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 0.5% to 2,211.94.

Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index lifted 0.7% to 25,562.13.

Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.1% to 40,998.27.

India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX dropped 0.7% to 80,891.02.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index declined 0.4% to 9,081.44. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX fell 1% to 23,970.36, and the France's CAC 40 declined 0.4% to 7,800.88