Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Drives Sharemarket Up

The New Zealand sharemarket closed higher on Wednesday after a strong result from the market’s largest company, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, and the Reserve Bank of NZ’s cut to the official cash rate. The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed up 0.61% or 81.576 points to 13,562.01 after 34.1 million shares worth $148.9m were traded. The S&P/NZX 20 index was up 0.44%, closing at 7,753.80 points, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 12,945.31 after rising 0.91%. There were 67 gainers on the main board and 73 decliners.

Hamilton Hindin Greene investment adviser Jeremy Sullivan said it had been a strong day for the local market, with the gross index reaching a new all-time intraday high of 13,747. “It’s given back a bit of ground, and that ground that we have given back has been post the Reserve Bank [RBNZ] update. The terminal rate was slightly higher than the market was anticipating, so we’ve seen the NZ/US dollar exchange rate tick up about 0.5%,” Sullivan said.

Key to the sharemarket’s rise was the half-year result from Fisher and Paykel Healthcare. The company’s share price rallied 4.63% or $1.70 to $38.40 on turnover worth $44.2m after its result, in which it delivered an 18% increase in total revenue and a 39% increase in net profit. The company also updated its full-year guidance, lifting its expected operating revenue to be in the range of about $2.17 billion to $2.27b. “It was a fantastic result. Approximately $1b in revenue, lifting guidance, expanding margins, it’s a very good quality healthcare exporter in New Zealand and a clear global growth runway for them.”

RBNZ cut the official cash rate (OCR) by 25 basis points to 2.25%. Sullivan said it was as the market had expected, but he believed the chances of another rate cut in February had been reduced.

Elsewhere, Genesis Energy held its investor day on Wednesday, during which it announced more details on its Gen 35 strategy and confirmed that earnings growth is on track. “I guess the key takeaway there is that it seems to be executing on its renewable strategy and maintaining a disciplined dividend framework, so sort of steady as she goes, really, for them,” said Sullivan. Genesis’ share price lifted 0.41% or 1c to $2.46.

The OCR update provided a late boost to Channel Infrastructure’s share price, which rose 3.33% or 9c to $2.79 after 2.1m shares changed hands, with turnover of $6.1m. Fletcher Building followed suit, lifting 1.53% or 5c to $3.32 on turnover worth $7.5m. Meanwhile, Infratil’s share price fell on turnover worth $6.03m, losing 2.28% or 26.75c to close at $11.44.

Wall Street rises Wall Street stocks shrugged off early weakness on Tuesday (US time) and joined European bourses in rising on continued hopes the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month. The prospect of further interest rate easing helped offset lingering worries that artificial intelligence equities are overvalued, while a trove of mixed US economic reports included some worrying signs that analysts said likely strengthened the Fed’s case for cutting rates.  Elsewhere, oil prices retreated amid reports that a deal to end the war in Ukraine may be close, which, if confirmed, would allow Russia to export vastly more oil.

Source: Business Desk

Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 20 points higher at 8646.

- close [Morningstar with AAP]: An early surge in Australian shares has faded by the close after a hotter-than-expected inflation print weighed on the outlook for borrowing costs.

The S&P/ASX200 eased from an almost 100-point rally to close 69.5 points higher on Wednesday, up 0.81 per cent to 8,606.5, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 75.1 points, or 0.85 per cent, to 8,899.3.

Morning exuberance quickly turned to caution after headline inflation jumped to 3.8 per cent in the year to October, well above consensus and Reserve Bank forecasts.

"Today's red-hot CPI has effectively torched hopes of a near-term RBA cut, and even put a rate hike back on the table - the equity market's least-wanted scenario," Vantage senior market analyst Hebe Chen told AAP.

"The shift triggered a sharp midday reversal, sending rate-sensitive tech lower while materials outperformed on the back of surging gold and iron ore prices."

A 1.7 per cent push in raw materials stocks led eight of 11 local segments higher, but an early 1.2 per cent upswing in the heavyweight financials sector eroded to a meagre 0.3 per cent gain by the close, capping broader upside.

Of the big four banks, ANZ and CBA edged higher, while NAB and Westpac each dipped more than 0.4 per cent.

The major miners supported the materials sector, with BHP and Fortescue jumping two per cent or more as iron ore and copper futures ticked higher during the session.

Gold stocks swung into the green as spot prices rose to $US4,167 an ounce on the back of increased US rate cut bets, supporting ASX-listed miners.

Lithium producers also performed well, with Liontown up 3.2 per cent, while Pilbara Minerals soared 7.2 per cent to $4.04.

Lynas Rare Earths grinded 0.1 per cent lower as boss Amanda Lacaze promised shareholders the company would make up its its power outage-induced production shortfall in 2026.

Energy stocks lifted 0.9 per cent on the back of modest gains in segment giants Woodside and Santos, and a positive day for coal and uranium stocks.

Consumer discretionary stocks performed well, up 1.2 per cent as November sales gathered steam, helping lift Wesfarmers and JB Hi-Fi.

Shares in home appliances giant Harvey Norman swung to a 1.3 per cent dip over the day, despite posting a 9.1 per cent improvement in total sales for financial year to November 20.

Temple and Webster's market value crashed by almost a third after its year-to-date revenue growth - a respectable 18 per cent - undershot expectations.

The traditionally defensive healthcare sector was up 1.2 per cent in a broad-based rally with an outsized performance from Fisher and Paykel Healthcare (+4.8 per cent) thanks to a guidance upgrade.

Market darling-turned-naughty stepchild Droneshield continued to edge its way back into investors' good books, the defence tech company up more than 25 per cent since its latest contracts update.

Droneshield's value has fallen by more than two-thirds since hitting a record $6.70 per share in October, but it's still up 179 per cent in 2025 despite a confidence crisis that followed key leaders dumping $70 million in stock earlier in November.

IT stocks, communications plays and utilities missed out on the broader rally, falling between 0.5 and 0.8 per cent.

The Australian dollar is buying 65.06 US cents, up from 64.58 US cents on Tuesday at 5pm AEDT, rising as interest rate markets pivoted towards potential rate hikes in 2026.

A lacklustre local growth outlook, coupled with rising inflation, is likely causing a headache for Reserve Bank board members.

"The local focus now turns to next week's GDP, a heavyweight print that will spell out how real the downside and stagflation risks are for Australia, and just how much more complicated the road ahead may become for the RBA," Vantage's Ms Chen said.

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 rose 69.5 points, or 0.81 per cent, to 8,606.5

The broader All Ordinaries gained 75.1 points, or 0.85 per cent, to 8,899.3

The NZX 50 added 20.26 points (0.15%) to 13582.27

Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):

Kingsgate Consolidated Limited

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

Amcor Plc

Technology One Limited

[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:

U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA added 0.7% to 47,427.12, the S&P 500 climbed 0.7% to 6,812.61 and the Nasdaq lifted 0.8% to 23,214.69.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Robinhood Markets Inc HOOD surging 10.93%, Teradyne Inc TER jumped 6.98%, and Dell Technologies Inc DELL lifted 5.83%.

The biggest decliners were Workday Inc WDAY which dropped 7.85%, Deere & Co DE fell 5.67%, and Intuit Inc INTU lost 2.94%.

Asia

Chinese shares closed mixed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.2% to 3,864.18 and the Shenzhen Composite Index climbed 0.3% to 2,433.12.

Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 0.1% to 25,928.08.

Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average added 1.8% to 49,559.07.

India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX lifted 1.2% to 85,609.51.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index rose 0.9% to 9,691.58. In Europe, shares closed higher. The Germany's DAX gained 1.1% to 23,726.22, and the France's CAC 40 rose 0.9% to 8,096.43