Mainfreight Rallies, Infratil Gains As NZX Edges Higher

Global transport and logistics company Mainfreight jumped 6% yesterday as the New Zealand sharemarket held on to gains for the second day running, although only just. The S&P/NZX 50 Index had a sharp rise at midday and then a late dip in the session to close at 12,976.99, up 47.69 points or 0.37% following a gain of 1.79% the day before. The index traded in a range of 12,914.44 and 13,073.68 points. There were 73 gainers and 59 decliners on the main board, with turnover reaching 29.8 million shares worth $129.59m.

The oil price continued to bounce around and at 6pm NZ time was trading at US$104 a barrel, having gone under US$98 the day before. In its latest property report, ANZ Research is predicting house prices will fall 2% this year, even though prices “unexpectedly lifted 0.6% in February”. ANZ said the economy was now facing extreme uncertainty in the form of a global energy shock stemming from the conflict in the Middle East. The challenges for the housing market were confidence about the economic outlook and upward pressure on mortgage rates. The increase in wholesale swap rates has been sharp and has already started to feed into higher mortgage rates. “There are plenty of new listings compared to sales, the length of time it is taking to sell a house has been rising, and fewer homes are selling at auction,” ANZ said.

Oceania Healthcare was down 2.5c or 3.38% to 71.5c, Ryman Healthcare was steady at $2.16; and Summerset was up 10c to $9.35. Mainfreight rose $3.50 or 6.01% to $61.70 after falling to $57.21 two days previously.

Market leader Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 53c to $37.72; Freightways gained 18c to $12.58; Mercury Energy added 12c or 1.92% to $6.37; and Turners Automotive increased 16c or 1.87% to $8.73.

Infratil increased 28c or 2.5% to $11.46 after outlining the strong demand for data centre operator CDC in a Sydney briefing for analysts and institutional investors. The utilities investor said it was focused on supporting CDC to deliver more capacity and meet growing demand for data centre space across Australasia. CDC has 18 operational sites and another five under construction. Infratil upgraded its operating earnings (ebitdaf) guidance for CDC to A$680m-A$720m in the 2027 financial year, more than double the earnings in the 2025 full year. But full-year 2026 earnings are expected to be at the lower end of the current guidance of A$390m-A$400m because of the timing of existing contracted capacity to the back end of the financial year, Infratil said.

T&G Global, up 1c to $2.38, confirmed it has appointed Goldman Sachs to assist in the sale of BayWa AG’s 74% majority shareholding.  T&G, formerly Turners and Growers, said it was continuing to review its strategic options and no decision had been made on that process.

Other gainers were Hallenstein Glasson up 25c or 2.66% to $9.65; Delegat Group adding 8c or 2.07% to $3.94; Eroad improving 2c or 2.42% to 84.5c; and Metro Performance Glass increasing 3c or 3.09% to $1.

Ebos Group was down 45c or 2% to $22; Seeka shed 11c or 2.12% to $5.08; and CDL Investments decreased 2c or 2.82% to 69c.

Among the mining stocks, Rua Gold rose 21.5c or 13.74% to $1.78, and Santana Minerals was down 5.5c or 6.11% to 84.5c. Property for Industry, up 1c to $2.31, indicated it will be making an offer of 6.5-year, fixed-rate bonds next week. The company earlier postponed an investor conference call for the proposed offer because of the uncertain market conditions.

Source: Business Desk

Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 2 points lower at 8534.

- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has handed back its early gains with interest as investors weigh clashing statements from the US and Iran on a potential path to de-escalation.

The S&P/ASX200 fell 8.6 points on Thursday, down 0.1 per cent, to 8,525.7, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 18.8 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 8,726.5.

Traders are closely watching for any progress in communications between US and Iranian officials following early reports Tehran has rejected a 15-point peace plan and issued its own demands for de-escalation in the Persian Gulf.

The talks came with thousands of US troops and other military assets bound for the region, raising questions about whether the extra force would be used for leverage in negotiations, or to secure the Strait of Hormuz by force.

"There's some signs we could be heading towards a fairly significant escalation over the weekend that could catch markets off guard," Capital.com senior market analyst Kyle Rodda said.

"On the surface of things, we're seeing the markets pricing out the risk of escalation, and that's resulting in the lower oil price, boosting stocks, gold and currencies that aren't the US dollar, but to what extent that's an efficient representation of markets for pricing-in the future is a bit more questionable."

Perhaps in a sign of the direction traders were leaning, defence stocks outperformed the broader market, with Droneshield and Electro Optic Systems each up more than four per cent.

Airlines were again under pressure, with Qantas and Virgin dipping after Wednesday's relief rally.

Local energy stocks rebounded from selling off the previous session as oil edged higher, while Woodside and Santos each gained more than two per cent.

Woodside announced it assumed control of the Beaumont New Ammonia facility in Texas, which has the capacity to produce and export up to 1.1 million tonnes of ammonia each year.

Basic materials sector cooled off from Wednesday's rebound as gold miners sold off, while the precious metal eased to $US4,491 an ounce.

Mega miners BHP and Rio Tinto made modest gains, while Fortescue retreated against a steady backdrop for iron ore futures.

The heavyweight financials ended the session marginally better than flat, with CommBank and Westpac edging higher while NAB and ANZ lost ground.

In company news, bourse operator ASX dipped one per cent as it appointed former Cboe CEO Vic Jokovic as a non-executive director.??

He will join the board in May.

AMP announced Adrian Ryan we be acting chief financial officer, to work in Blair Vernon's stead when Mr Vernon takes the reins as CEO on March 30.

Mobile marketplace and gig economy app operator Airtasker rose 2.2 per cent after inking a strategic deal with Nine Entertainment worth $5 million to boost the platform's brand awareness.

The Australian dollar is buying 69.47 US cents, down slightly from 69.72 US cents on Wednesday at 5pm AEDT, as higher local interest rate expectations brushed up against strength in oil prices and the greenback.

ANZ economists expect the Reserve Bank to effectively reverse 2025's interest rate easing cycle via a combined 0.75 per cent in increases to 4.35 per cent by the end of 2026.

"The economic outlook has weakened, shaped by higher inflation from domestic pressures and the Middle East conflict and the resultant monetary tightening and activity impacts," ANZ senior economist Adelaide Timbrell said.

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 dropped 8.6 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 8,525.7

The broader All Ordinaries fell 18.8 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 8,726.5

The NZX 50 Lost -57.57 points (-0.45%) to 12919.42

[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:

U.S. stocks ended lower. The DJIA dropped 1% to 45,960.11, the S&P 500 slipped 1.7% to 6,477.16 and the Nasdaq fell 2.4% to 21,408.08.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Brown-Forman Corp BF.B surging 9.86%, Valero Energy Corp VLO jumped 5.79%, and Best Buy Co Inc BBY lifted 4.65%.

The biggest decliners were Ciena Corp CIEN which dropped 11.22%, SanDisk Corp SNDK fell 11.02%, and AppLovin Corp APP lost 10.41%.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.1% to 3,889.08 and the Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 1.5% to 2,546.59.

Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index declined 1.9% to 24,856.43.

Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average slipped 0.3% to 53,603.65.

India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX gained 1.6% to 75,273.45.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index fell 1.3% to 9,972.17. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX slipped 1.5% to 22,612.97, and the France's CAC 40 fell 1% to 7,769.31