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Market Summary
New Zealand’s sharemarket closed lower yesterday as concerns over the US-Iran conflict combined with inflation worries and jitters from a Nasdaq tech sell-off to spook local investors. At the close, the S&P/NZX 50 was down 51.49 points, or 0.39%, at 13,202.16. Turnover was 35.14 million shares worth $146.19m, with 60 stocks rising and 76 falling on the main board. Weak day Multiple sectors softened during the session.
“The [renewed] news flow that is coming out of the Middle East is keeping a lid on any buyers of equities,” Hamilton Hindin Greene director and investment manager Grant Williamson said. Yesterday’s trade was set against another flare-up in the US-Iran conflict, which has essentially closed the Strait of Hormuz since late February and left markets racked with uncertainty. “Two other factors at play at the moment are obviously inflation and technology valuations on US companies in particular starting to play a part,” Williamson told BusinessDesk. “Of course, the US market has performed this year to date a hell of a lot better than what [the] New Zealand [market], in particular, has.”
The S&P/NZX 50 began the day southbound as sellers outnumbered buyers, with an intraday low arriving after midday. On the south side of the ledger, Serko was down 2.86% to $1.53, albeit on slim volume, with Synlait Milk shedding 4.65% to 41c on residual lukewarm sentiment after its recent refinancing news. “It’s a company that’s been under a fair amount of pressure in recent months,” Williamson said.
Other stocks to fall on overall cool market sentiment included SkyCity Entertainment, down 3.13% to 46.5c, while KMD Brands was flat at 8.2c. Westpac ebbed, while ANZ Group Holdings firmed. Auckland Airport, Air New Zealand and Mainfreight also fell. Williamson said Mainfreight was sensitive to Middle East news flow.
Infratil shed 1.93% to $14.76, with Williamson noting the stock was sensitive to events on the Nasdaq, which in Wall Street trade on June 10 saw semiconductor chip makers, tech and AI stocks falter. Meanwhile, Williamson said the prospect of interest rates staying higher for longer, or even rising if inflation pressures persisted, was also figuring in investors’ minds. “Interest rate-sensitive stocks like the property sector have been under a little bit of pressure.” The property sector was mixed. Goodman Property fell 2.68% to $1.995 and Fletcher Building shed 0.96% to $3.10, but Stride Property rose 0.92% to $1.10, Precinct Properties gained 0.99% to $1.02, and Property for Industry added 0.41% to $2.42.
On the positive side of the ledger, Summerset Group improved 0.86% to $8.18, albeit on mild volume. Telecommunications companies Spark New Zealand, up 1.34% to $1.895, and Chorus, up 1.74% to $9.95, both delivered share price increases. Williamson considered the rise in Spark to be the result of investors dabbling in bargain hunting on the back of recent softness in the stock. Chorus’ climb was likely because of investors’ appetite for safety. Energy companies also firmed, with Mercury up 0.15% at $6.76, Genesis rising 0.78% to $2.57, and Meridian gaining 0.34% to $5.90.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 146 points higher at 8794.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has trimmed its early losses but ultimately ended the session lower, with a mining sector rebound unable to overcome resurgent fears as the US and Iran trade strikes.
The S&P/ASX200 fell 20.1 points on Thursday, down 0.23 per cent, to 8,633.2, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 20.3 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 8,836.7.
Energy stocks and defensive sectors outperformed the broader market following a re-escalation of fighting between the US and Iran, while an afternoon rebound in mining stocks helped the bourse balance its losses elsewhere.
"The ASX 200 had a volatile session, falling more than one per cent in early trade before recovering most of its losses by the afternoon, suggesting risk appetite is wavering but not collapsing," Vantage senior market analyst Hebe Chen told AAP.
"The broader macro backdrop has pushed investors into a more defensive and selective stance, but money is still finding its way into blue-chip and resilient names, helping BHP and CSL provide key support for the market."
BHP shares rose one per cent to $60.80, while competitor Fortescue slipped 0.3 per cent into the red, indicating investor selectivity rather than broad sector buying.
Gold miners mostly fell, as the precious metal dropped to $US4,087 ($A5,833) an ounce and the commodity sub-index lost 0.8 per cent.
Energy stocks gained 1.5 per cent with strong leads from Woodside, Santos and coal miners, while uranium stocks continued to sell off.
Oil prices actually cooled from their overnight spike, with West Texas crude trading at $US91.50 a barrel shortly before 5pm AEST.
Financials were a major drag on the index, tumbling 1.5 per cent, as all big four banks and Macquarie slumped.
Westpac dived 2.6 per cent after telling investors its investor home lending had fallen 20 per cent since the federal budget, while total mortgages dropped by one tenth.
The traditionally defensive consumer staples and health care segments each gained more than one per cent, while consumer cyclicals improved 0.8 per cent as Wesfarmers rallied for a second session following its investor day.
Australia's exchange traded fund industry hit a record $364 billion in funds under management in May, after a third consecutive month of net inflows above $5 billion, according to Betashares.
In company news, Lendlease shares jumped more than four per cent after maintaining its earnings-per-share guidance and appointing AustralianSuper head of retail assets Nick O'Neil as managing director and CEO, to take over from Tony Lombardo.
Southern Cross Media swung a similar amount in the other direction after its leadership flagged hundreds of jobs cuts and trimmed forward guidance.
Vinyl Group pared its early losses to end the session down 1.6 per cent, after a webinar talking up its recent Time Out and Pedestrian acquisition helped ease investor jitters around the media group's latest purchases.
The Australian dollar is buying 70.02 US cents, down from 70.17 US cents on Wednesday at 5pm AEST.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 fell 20.1 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 8,633.2??
The broader All Ordinaries dropped by 20.3 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 8,836.7
The NZX 50 added 55.15 points (0.42%) to 13257.31
Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):
ALS Limited
Dyno Nobel Limited
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA climbed 1.9% to 50,848.75, the S&P 500 added 1.8% to 7,394.30 and the Nasdaq rose 2.5% to 25,809.66.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were SanDisk Corp SNDK surging 14.38%, KLA Corp KLAC jumped 12.92%, and Lam Research Corp LRCX lifted 12.53%.
The biggest decliners were PTC Inc PTC which dropped 12.36%, Oracle Corp ORCL fell 8.53%, and Autodesk Inc ADSK lost 7.10%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.2% to 3,987.01 and the Shenzhen Composite Index fell 0.7% to 2,670.73.
Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 0.7% to 24,249.29.
Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average climbed 0.1% to 64,217.27.
India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX dropped 0.2% to 73,832.55.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index added 0.5% to 10,303.88. In Europe, shares closed higher. The Germany's DAX climbed 0.1% to 24,209.71, and the France's CAC 40 added 0.5% to 8,200.80
