Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket ended Friday, its first day under a new United States tariff regime, weaker after a late bout of selling wiped out earlier gains. The S&P/NZX 50 Index ended 42.47 points (0.33%) lower at 12,844.63, with 32.5 million shares, worth $101.1m trading. There were 72 rises and 52 falls on the main board. As of Friday, US tariffs will raise the average US import duty to its highest in a century.
Spark firmed 4c or 1.6% to $2.59 after a difficult period. Also firming were KMD Brands, up 1c at 25c, and Sky TV, up 6c at $3.02. Infratil dropped by 18c or 1.59% to $11.84. The infrastructure investor earlier announced that it had, with the NZ Superannuation Fund, entered a binding agreement to sell their 100% interest in RetireAustralia to Invesco Real Estate, for A$845m (NZ$925m). As of March 31, the carrying value of Infratil’s investment in RetireAustralia was $404m, with the transaction expected to result in an accounting loss on sale of about $80m, the company said.
Market heavyweight Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which has a 16% weighting on the S&P/NZX50 index, fell 31c to $36.69. Summerset dropped by 25c (2.25%) to 11.08. Transport software specialist Eroad took back some of Thursday’s gains, which were on the back of NZ’s plan to introduce universal road user charges, the stock dropping 6c to $1.95. Major apple exporter T&G Global rallied by 15c (6.7%) to $2.40 after posting a turnaround in its first half to a $1.7m profit from a loss of $18.76m in the previous comparable period. “As we head into the second half of the year, T&G is in a strong position to build on this momentum,” the company said. “We’re confident in our ability to continue delivering improved financial performance.” T&G’s majority owner, Germany’s BayWa, has put its stake up for review. BayWa, which has interests ranging from food to construction and energy, first made its play for the then Turners and Growers in 2011, with the intention of a complete takeover. T&G’s shares have gained 53% in the past 12 months.
With a 15% tariff on NZ exports to the US now in place, ASB expects beef, dairy and wine exports to be the most affected. “We think beef is currently under the most risk, but there are opportunities to mitigate the hit,” the bank said.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 2 points higher at 8801.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has edged lower, unable to push higher after breaking records two days earlier.
The S&P/ASX200 ground 24.3 points lower on Friday, down 0.28 per cent to 8.807.1, as the broader All Ordinaries fell 25.4 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 9,076.6.
The top 200 was up about 1.7 per cent for the week, but has struggled since soaring to a new intraday peak of 8,848.8 on Wednesday and finds itself in sync with other global indexes hovering close to their peak, including Wall Street's S&P500, the Nasdaq and London's FTSE.
"Share markets are at risk of a correction through the seasonally weak months of August and September, given stretched valuations and risks around US tariffs and US debt and likely weaker growth and profits," AMP deputy economist Diana Mousina said.
Only four sectors finished significantly higher on Friday, led by the raw materials sector, which rallied 1.4 per cent and was the week's best performer with a more than five per cent lift.
Iron ore giants BHP (up .08 per cent), Fortescue (up 1.8 per cent) and Rio Tinto (up 1.1 per cent) finished the week strongly along with Australian goldminers, with support from commodity prices.
Gold is knocking on the door of new highs, trading about $US3,495 ($A5,360) an ounce as risk-off sentiment continues to draw investors to the haven, helping WA-headquartered Northern Star slingshot more than 18 per cent higher since last week.
Consumer discretionary stocks faded but were up almost four per cent since Monday, while the financial sector weighed on the bourse, slipping 1.1 per cent and wiping out most of its weekly gains.
All big four banks were in the red on Friday, with the Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac each shedding about 0.9 per cent.
Insurers also sold off, led by an 8.8 per cent slump in QBE, after some analysts questioned the inclusion of previous years' reserves in its half-year result.
The strong performance in consumer discretionaries was underpinned by Bunnings and Kmart owner Wesfarmers, up 6.7 per cent for the week after a five-session winning streak.
The group will release its full-year earnings at the end of August.
Energy stocks are up 2.5 per cent for the week despite a net decrease in oil prices as Whitehaven and Santos edged higher.
Coal producers also did some heavy lifting for the sector, with Yancoal up more than seven per cent since Monday to $6.66, thanks in part to better-than-expected coal export data earlier in the week.
Healthcare stocks have continued to struggle amid concerns about incoming US tariffs on pharmaceuticals, slipping 2.5 per cent in two sessions.
The Australian dollar is roughly flat against the greenback, buying 65.25 US cents, down from 65.24 US cents on Thursday at 5pm.
Forex traders at NAB have trimmed their price 2025 target for the Aussie from 70 US cents to 68 US cents.
"The view is still that the US dollar is in for a cyclical decline there, but it's just taking a little bit longer," NAB's head of market economics Tapas Strickland said.
Next week will likely be a huge one for markets, with a Reserve Bank interest rate cut expected on Tuesday, key labour data due on Thursday and a host of company earnings including CBA, Telstra, JB Hi-Fi, Origin, AGL and IAG.
ON THE ASX:
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Friday lost 24.3 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 8,807.1
The broader All Ordinaries edged 25.4 points lower, or 0.28 per cent, to 9,076.6
The NZX 50 added 13.25 points (0.10%) to 12857.88
Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):
Alcoa Corporation
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA rose 0.5% to 44,175.61, the S&P 500 lifted 0.8% to 6,389.45 and the Nasdaq rose 1% to 21,450.02.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Gilead Sciences Inc GILD surging 8.28%, Albemarle Corp ALB jumped 7.74%, and Gen Digital Inc GEN lifted 7.71%.
The biggest decliners were The Trade Desk Inc TTD which dropped 38.50%, GoDaddy Inc GDDY fell 11.27%, and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc WBD lost 8.01%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.1% to 3,635.13 and the Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 0.2% to 2,220.15.
Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index declined 0.9% to 24,858.82.
Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average lifted 1.9% to 41,820.48.
India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX slipped 0.9% to 79,857.79.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.1% to 9,095.73. In Europe, shares closed mixed. The Germany's DAX fell 0.1% to 24,162.86, and the France's CAC 40 lifted 0.4% to 7,743.00
