NZ Sharemarket Down 2.09% For The Week

The New Zealand sharemarket, under some selling pressure, finished the week with a fall of more than 2% while Wall Street continued to climb to new highs. The S&P/NZX 50 Index started strongly, reaching 13,111.67, but after an hour’s trading it gradually slid and closed at 12,9905.67, down 160.39 points or 1.23%. The index declined 2.09% for the week and has fallen near 4.7% so far this year. There were 51 gainers and 78 decliners on the main board, and volumes increased slightly to 46.9 million shares worth $157.4m, with leading energy stocks dragging down the market on the rebalancing of the S&P Global Clean Energy Index.

At home, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare decreased 54c to $38.03; Infratil was down 13c to $12.05; Freightways shed 20c to $12.25; Mainfreight eased 70c to $57.20; a2 Milk declined 12c to $9.11; and Turners Automotive fell 23c or 2.63% to $8.51. In the retirement sector, Summerset declined by 35c, or 4.07%, to $8.25, and Ryman Healthcare was down 8c, or 3.85%, to $2. Fletcher Building declined 9c or 3.04% to $2.87; Air NZ decreased 2c or 4.35% to 44c, Fonterra Co-operative was down 16c or 3.29% to $4.71; and Cooks Coffee fell 3.5c or 13.73% to 22c.

In the energy sector, Mercury declined 14c or 2.09% to $6.55, and Genesis decreased 4c or 1.75% to $2.25. Contact, down 16c to $9.33, has taken full ownership of King Country Energy by issuing King Country Trust 4.98m shares worth $47m for the remaining 25% it didn’t own. King Country Energy has five North Island hydro power stations with a total capacity of 53MW and an average expected annual generation of 190GWh. Meridian Energy, down 17c or 2.98% to $5.54, told the market it was holding 40% more water than at the same time last year. In the month to April 13, national hydro storage decreased from 110% to 106% of the historical average. South Island storage decreased to 97% of the average, and the North Island increased to 180%. Meridian’s March retail sales volumes were 11.4% higher than the same month last year, with residential sales rising 27.8%. Full-year capital expenditure guidance has been revised to $280m-$310m, from $330m-$360m.

Skellerup was up 10c or 1.77% to $5.76; Michael Hill added 1.5c or 3.23% to 48c; Blackpearl Group rose 7.5c or 9.04% to 90.5c; and TradeWindow gained 0.009c or 4.84% to 19.5c. NZ King Salmon Investments rose 4c or 20% to 24c after upgrading its full-year operating earnings (ebitda) guidance to $19m-$27m, from the previous $9m-$15m, because of increased volumes. NZ King told the market that mortality levels over the summer were lower than forecast, resulting in more fish to sell – and an overall improvement in fish size and quality. The latest harvest is expected to be 5,800-6,100 metric tonnes, compared to the previous guidance of 5,500-5,900 metric tonnes. There has been plenty of trading activity in manuka honey supplier Comvita, up 1c to 69c. China Resources Enterprise has offloaded its 6.254% stake for nearly $3m, at 68c a share. Kauri NZ Investments has increased its shareholding from 10.54% to 11.29%, and PHC Investments holds 13.06% in Comvita.

Source: Business Desk

Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 10 points Lower at 8944.

Thursday 16th April 2026 - close [Morningstar with AAP]: Weak performances from major banks, gold stocks and mega miners have dragged the bourse lower despite hopes of de-escalation in the Middle East boosting the Australian dollar to four-year highs.

The S&P/ASX200 fell 23.7 points on Thursday, down 0.26 per cent, to 8,955 as the broader All Ordinaries lost 7.5 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 9,173.6.

The top 200 was unable to hold above 9000 points for a third straight session despite global equities rallying on hopes the US and Iran are keen to resolve their conflict and ease its resulting energy shock.

Multiple Wall Street indices hit fresh records overnight, and benchmark indices in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong were up between 1.5 per cent and two per cent at the time of writing, but a rotation out of Australia's blue-chip banks and miners held its exchange back.

"They're top-ranked banks in terms of credit exposures, they pay strong dividend yields, they have tax benefits and they're exposed to a domestic audience that's largely insulated from the globe, so seen as a great defensive asset but now that dynamic's reversing," Moomoo market strategist Michael McCarthy told AAP.

"The market has taken the view that we're just about done in the Middle East and everything's improving, so those defensive assets that they bought during that period are now being sold."

The heavyweight financials sector tumbled 1.3 per cent as NAB and CommBank fell more than 2.5 per cent each, carving out spots in the ASX200's top-10 worst performances for the day.

Raw materials slipped 0.4 per cent with a sluggish lead from BHP and Rio Tinto, but gold miners really dragged on the segment as the All Ordinaries gold sub-industry slipped 1.8 per cent.

The slump came despite the precious metal improving to $US4,818 ($A6,710) an ounce during the session.

Oil prices and ASX-listed energy stocks continued to cool off from their Persian Gulf conflict rallies, with most fossil fuel producers selling off.

Uranium stocks bucked the trend, with Paladin, Deep Yellow and Silex each up two per cent or more.

Viva Energy went into a trading halt after a fire at its Geelong fuel refinery, which intensified existing concerns about national fuel supply.

Virgin Australia is up more than 12 per cent in two sessions as investors bet on an easing of disruptions to Middle East airspace and a more modest outlook for jet fuel prices.

Qantas, which doesn't fly direct services to the region, has gained 1.7 per cent in the same period.

ASX-listed tech stocks continued their rebound, up more than seven per cent on Thursday, making it a 13.6 per cent charge in three sessions for the beaten-down segment.

Consumer discretionary stocks also benefited from a broader lift in sentiment, up 0.8 per cent despite a lumbering performance by Bunnings' owner Wesfarmers, tracking with the broader blue chip sell-off.

The brighter global growth outlook and a fading greenback helped send the Australian dollar to a four-year high of 71.98 US cents, before easing to 71.88 US cents, up from 71.38 US cents at 5pm on Wednesday.

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 fell 23.7 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 8,955.

The broader All Ordinaries lost 7.5 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 9,173.6.

The NZX 50 Lost -10.52 points (-0.08%) to 13,066.06 while the Nikkei gained 1384.10 points (2.33%) at the time of writing, to be closed at 59,518.34

[Morningstar with Dow Jones]: U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA lifted 0.2% to 48,578.72, the S&P 500 increased 0.3% to 7,041.28, and the Nasdaq gained 0.4% to 24,102.7.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Albemarle Corp ALB surging 16.31%, ON Semiconductor Corp ON jumped 10.37%, and Dell Technologies Inc DELL lifted 8.92%.

The biggest decliners were Charles Schwab Corp SCHW which dropped 7.63%, Abbott Laboratories ABT fell 6.01%, and Royal Caribbean Group RCL lost 5.80%.

Asia

Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7% to 4,055.55, and the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 1.8% to 2,733.57.

Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 1.7% to 26,394.26.

Japanese shares closed higher. The Nikkei Stock Average lifted 2.4% to 59,518.34.

India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX slipped 0.2% to 77,988.68.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index gained 0.3% to 1,0589.99.

In Europe, shares closed mixed. Germany's DAX rose 0.4% to 24,154.47, and France's CAC 40 declined 0.1% to 8,262.7.