Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket remained steady on Thursday as investors and analysts focused their attention on the US markets, where major companies have begun to announce new results. On the main board, the S&P/NZX 50 Index closed up 0.09% or 11.07 points, rising to 12,805.13, with 25.1 million shares changing hands to the value of $93.3m. The S&P/NZX 20 index closed at 7,499.26, up 0.07%, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 12,527.42, rising 0.27%. There were 76 gainers on the main board and 60 decliners.
NZX chief executive Mark Peterson announced his resignation on Thursday and said he would be leaving at the end of April 2026, following the company’s annual meeting. Appointed CEO in April 2017, Peterson has helped guide the market operator to new heights, with NZX’s operating earnings having increased from $28.6m to $48.5m during his tenure.
In trade news, the United States and Japan reached a deal that included lowering President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Japan’s crucial car sector. The US lowered tariffs on some Japanese goods to 15%, down from the threatened 25%. In return, Japan pledged to invest US$550 billion (NZ$908.1b) in the US, Trump said on social media.
As for the earnings season in the US, Google parent Alphabet reported quarterly profits that topped expectations, while Elon Musk’s Tesla saw its revenue fall 12% – the sharpest decline in at least a decade.
Google’s performance in cloud and data centre technologies could benefit Infratil, which operates as a landlord for some data centres in NZ. Infratil’s share price rose 2c, or 0.18%, to $11.19 after 582,097 shares traded hands, valued at $6.5m.
Elsewhere, Air NZ rose half a cent or 0.86% to 58.5c on high volume, with 1,981,843 shares trading hands. Ebos Group also rallied 98c or 2.46% after $5.6m worth of shares were traded, lifting its price to $40.76.
Wall Street stocks advanced on Wednesday, with the Dow logging strong gains and the S&P 500 closing at a record for the third consecutive day. The gains came after Trump announced on Tuesday that Washington had reached tariff agreements with Japan and the Philippines, and as officials signalled optimism in trade talks with the European Union. German chancellor Friedrich Merz voiced optimism that EU and United States negotiators are making progress in talks to resolve a transatlantic trade row. Several EU diplomats also said the bloc was examining a US proposal involving a baseline tariff of 15% and sectoral carve-outs still to be decided.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 19 points higher at 8582.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: The Australian share market has lost ground after slightly hawkish comments by Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock, while the local currency climbed to an eight-month high.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Thursday dropped 27.8 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 8,709.4, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 22 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 8,979.4.
The ASX200 was flat about midday and then fell after Ms Bullock delivered an address at a fundraiser, speaking on the RBA's dual mandate of addressing inflation and employment.
NAB head of market economics Tapas Strickland said the most interesting thing about the speech was Ms Bullock's comment that "some tightness in the labour market" remained, despite unemployment rising in June.
Mr Strickland said the speech leaned slightly hawkish and showed that an August rate cut was not a done deal.
A second-quarter inflation readout that will be released on July 30 would be important, he said.
The Australian dollar, which had already moved above 66 US cents for the first time since November 8 following weakness in the greenback, climbed further after Ms Bullock's remarks.
Close to 5pm the Aussie was buying 66.16 US cents, from 65.65 US cents at 5pm on Wednesday.
NAB economist Pat Bustamante said risk currencies including the Aussie had benefited from a risk-on tone overnight after a US-Japan trade deal eased fears of a global trade war.
Nine of the ASX's 11 sectors finished lower, with utilities flat and health care gaining 1.0 per cent.
In the consumer discretionary sector, Bapcor plunged 28.4 per cent to a five-year low of $3.66 after the Autobarn owner posted disappointing sales in May and June, said it would write off $43 million in assets and announced the resignations of three directors. No reason was given.
On the flip side, Pexa Group soared 16.5 per cent to a nearly three-year high of $15.09 after the digital property exchange announced leading UK bank NatWest had agreed to facilitate future remortages on Pexa's platform.
In the financial sector, Macquarie dropped 5.1 per cent to $213.84 as the investment bank held its annual general meeting in Sydney.
It announced a drop in first-quarter net profit and the departure of long-serving chief financial officer Alex Harvey - and also narrowly received a "first strike" from shareholders disgruntled over perceived excessive executive pay despite compliance failings.
As for the big four retail banks, ANZ dropped 0.4 per cent to $30.44, while the other three were in the green.
NAB climbed 1.2 per cent to $37.66, Westpac advanced 0.5 per cent to $33.29 and CBA edged 0.1 per cent higher at $173.47.
In the heavyweight mining sector, BHP dropped 0.6 per cent to $41.60, Rio Tinto added 0.3 per cent to $119.86 and Fortescue rose 4.3 per cent to $19 as the iron ore giant announced record shipments in 2024/25.
Elsewhere in the sector, goldminers were in the red as the yellow metal changed hands at $US3,438, down about $16 from Wednesday.
Northern Star dropped 2.4 per cent, Evolution lost 2.7 per cent and Regis Resources retreated 2.2 per cent.
Calix Limited rocketed 28.6 per cent to a six-month high of 67.5 cents after the environmental technology company announced the Australian Renewable Energy Agency had awarded it a $44.9 million grant to fund its "green iron" demonstration plant.
PNG copper miner Bougainville Copper soared 12.4 per cent to a one-and-a-half-year high of 72.5 cents, for reasons not immediately clear.
ON THE ASX:
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Thursday dropped 27.8 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 8,709.4
The broader All Ordinaries fell 22 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 8,979.4.
The NZX 50 added 5.91 points (0.05%) to 12811.04
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA declined 0.7% to 44,693.91, the S&P 500 lifted 0.1% to 6,363.35 and the Nasdaq rose 0.2% to 21,057.96.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were West Pharmaceutical Services Inc WST surging 23.08%, United Rentals Inc URI jumped 8.94%, and Labcorp Holdings Inc LH lifted 6.87%.
The biggest decliners were LKQ Corp LKQ which dropped 18.03%, Dow Inc DOW fell 17.63%, and Molina Healthcare Inc MOH lost 16.70%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.7% to 3,605.73 and the Shenzhen Composite Index rose 1.2% to 2,203.09.
Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 0.5% to 25,667.18.
Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average climbed 1.6% to 41,826.34.
India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX dropped 0.7% to 82,184.17.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.8% to 9,138.37. In Europe, shares closed mixed. The Germany's DAX rose 0.2% to 24,295.93, and the France's CAC 40 slipped 0.4% to 7,818.28
