Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket took on a cautious tone yesterday and fell nearly 1% as inflation crept up on both sides of the Tasman, sparking fears of interest rate hikes. The S&P/NZX 50 Index was on a downward slide all day and closed at 13,412.87, declining 98.01 points or 0.73%. There were 49 gainers and 83 decliners on the main board with 33 million shares worth $114.9 million changing hands.
Things got nervy after the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced that annual inflation increased to 3.8% at the end of December, from 3.4% recorded in November. This followed the NZ inflation increase from 3% to 3.1% in the December quarter – the highest annual rate since the June 2024 quarter, when it was 3.3%.
The gold price was up a further 3% to US$5,240 (NZ$8,705) an ounce, and the NZ dollar was back over US60c against the American greenback, trading at US60.16c after reaching an intraday high of US60.5c. Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 0.18% to 8,925.1 points at 6pm NZ time yesterday.
Back home, Ebos Group continued to be sold off, falling 65c or 2.44% to $26 – the stock was last at that level in October 2020. Infratil was down 18c to $10.97; Summerset declined 24c or 2.05% to $11.49; Skellerup shed 8c to $5.20; Sky TV decreased 6c or 1.77% to $3.33; and Eroad fell 6c or 4.55% to $1.26. In the retail sector, Hallenstein Glasson was up 10c to $9.70, and Briscoe Group was down 13c or 2.55% to $4.97.
The property sector on the market slumped 1.84% as bond yields continued to rise. The NZ 10 Year Government Bond yield was up slightly to 4.637% and the 2 Year to 3.38%. Goodman Property Trust declined 4.5c or 2.28% to $1.92; Investore was down 2c or 1.75% to $1.12; Kiwi Property decreased 2.5c or 2.43% to $1.00; and Precinct Properties shed 2.5c or 2.14% to $1.14. Argosy Property was down 2.5c or 2.06% to $1.19; Vital Healthcare Trust also eased 2.5c to $1.96, and Stride and Property for Industry both decreased 2c to $1.30 and $2.31, respectively. Green Cross Health increased 7c or 5.69% to $1.30, and Blackpearl Group was up 3.5c or 3.55% to $1.02.
Dual-listed Minerals Exploration was down 2c or 6.67% to 28c after telling the market it has started test drilling at the flagship Waitekauri Jubilee gold mine near Waihi after collecting rock chip samples at the Scotia prospect. The company said the Waitekauri project is 8km west of OceanaGold’s Waihi Gold Mine and is located in the centre of a heavily gold-mineralised structural corridor. Minerals Exploration had $4.5m in cash at the end of December. Fellow miner Santana Minerals rebounded 11c or 8.94% to $1.34. Cooks Coffee, with outlets in the UK and Ireland, was up 1.5c, or 6.98%, to 23c after announcing it is expanding its Esquires chain into the United Arab Emirates (UAE), including Dubai. Cooks has organised an initial 10-year master franchise agreement with the UAE, providing a minimum total of 50 Esquires Coffee outlets during that period.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 4 points lower at 8937.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australian shares have snapped a three-session winning streak after hotter-than-expected inflation numbers ratcheted up bets on an incoming interest rate hike.
The S&P/ASX200 fell 7.7 points on Wednesday, down 0.09 per cent, to 8,933.9, as the broader All Ordinaries dropped 17.9 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 9,250.6.
The bourse gave up a modest morning lift to slip lower in the afternoon, after yet another upside inflation surprise increased chances the Reserve Bank will lift the cash interest rate at its first 2026 meeting next week.
Ongoing US dollar weakness has supported oil and gold prices, pushing energy and materials stocks higher while the nine remaining local sectors fell behind, led by interest rate-sensitive segments.
"The damage would obviously have been a lot worse,.given consumer facing stocks, financials and real estate sectors, all are down on the day," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore told AAP.
"But with the energy sector and materials doing the same, it means we've had a fairly modest down day."
Oil prices rose to their highest price since September, helping to lift energy stocks 2.3 per cent, tracking with strength in Santos and Woodside, as Woodside posted a record year of production.
Uranium stocks outperformed the top-200, with names like Paladin and Deep Yellow up more than five and 10 per cent, respectively, after Deep Yellow slashed its cost guidance.
Gold miners helped the materials sector advance 1.4 per cent, as the precious metal clocked a new US$5,260 ($A7,520) an ounce record on the back of a US dollar retreat, as silver flirted with its recent peak above $US117 ($A167) an ounce.
Lithium miners didn't fare so well, with PLS and Liontown each trading lower, both companies facing some profit-taking after soaring in the second half of 2025.
Interest rate-sensitive sectors like IT stocks (-2.8) and real estate (-0.9) were under pressure, while consumer discretionaries lost 1.3 per cent and staples faded 0.9 per cent.
The heavyweight financials sector edged 0.3 per cent lower, as three of the big four banks traded lower, led by a 0.5 per cent dip in ANZ shares to $36.40, while CBA eked a 0.2 per cent lift to $150.36.
Major insurers were broadly lower, as claims linked to multiple bushfires burning across Victoria topped $200 million, according to the Insurance Council of Australia.
The Australian dollar is buying 70.04 US cents, trading at three-year highs and up from 69.15 US cents on Friday at 5pm.
Local currency strength was likely to play out in different ways over the short and medium term for local companies, Mr Sycamore said.
"The exporters are going to be doing well because commodity prices are rising, but at some point - probably closer to 75 US cents - the Aussie dollar will start to erode some of those earnings," Mr Sycamore said.
"Meanwhile the importing stocks, for example, Qantas or Virgin, will start to do a little bit better because the Aussie dollar is making their jet fuel cheaper."
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 lost 7.7 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 8,933.9
The broader All Ordinaries gained 17.9 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 9,250.6
The NZX 50 added 6.47 points (0.05%) to 13419.34
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA was unchanged at 49,015.60, the S&P 500 was unchanged at 6,978.03 and the Nasdaq climbed 0.2% to 23,857.45.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Seagate Technology Holdings PLC STX surging 19.11%, Intel Corp INTC jumped 11.04%, and Western Digital Corp WDC lifted 10.70%.
The biggest decliners were Carvana Co CVNA which dropped 14.18%, Amphenol Corp APH fell 12.15%, and Axon Enterprise Inc AXON lost 9.92%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed mixed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.3% to 4,151.24 and the Shenzhen Composite Index was unchanged at 2,718.05.
Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 2.6% to 27,826.91.
Japanese shares ended flat. The Nikkei Stock Average was unchanged at 53,358.71.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX added 0.6% to 82,344.68.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index fell 0.5% to 10,154.43. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX dropped 0.3% to 24,822.79, and the France's CAC 40 fell 1.1% to 8,066.68
