NZ Sharemarket Down As Mainfreight, Utilities Move

The New Zealand sharemarket was down again on Thursday as high-valued Mainfreight's share price dropped for the second day while utility stocks had plenty of movement. On the main board, the S&P/NZX 50 Index closed down 0.25% or 32.23 points, falling to 12,823.74, after 35.3 million shares changed hands to the value of $153.8m. The S&P/NZX 20 index closed at 7503.77, down 0.45%, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 12,522.19, falling 0.62%. There were 86 gainers on the main board and 53 decliners.

Mainfreight was the big mover again following its annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, with $26.92m worth of shares changing hands, losing 1.33%.

Utility shares had plenty of movement, including Infratil which had $13.41m worth of shares change hands as it shed 37c. Spark also traded in high volume after 5.43m shares changed hands to the value of $13.23m losing 0.61%.

Meanwhile, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare rose 0.11% late in the day lifting its share price to $36.80, as did Contact Energy, which had 1.12m shares change hands, lifting it to $9.11.

In the US the Federal Reserve met with no change to interest rates. Tech giants Meta and Microsoft also both released strong results, with Microsoft’s reporting profit of US$27.2 billion ($33.4b) because of its AI and cloud growth, while Meta beat expectations, reporting a revenue jump of 22% year on year to US$47.5 billion ($58.3b).

Wall Street stocks finished mostly lower on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates flat and refrained from signalling it will soon cut interest rates. The Fed, as expected, held interest rates steady, despite relentless pressure from US President Donald Trump for an interest rate cut. In a press conference, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell emphasised future monetary policy decisions would depend on economic data. “Powell sounded more hawkish than what markets were hoping for,” said Angelo Kourkafas of Edward Jones. Lower odds Futures markets lowered their odds for a September interest rate cut following the press conference and statement, which included no major tweaks that would have implied an imminent interest rate cut. Economic data showed the US economy returned to expansion in the second quarter, notching 3% growth after a contraction in the first quarter. But GDP in both quarters was heavily influenced by import activity in response to Trump’s aggressive trade policy.

Source: Business Desk

Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 20 points lower at 8721.

- close [Morningstar with AAP]: The local share market has slipped from near-record levels as copper prices plunged following a surprise US tariff decision, pressuring miners of the red metal.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Thursday dropped 13.6 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 8,742.8, while the broader All Ordinaries dipped 16.4 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 8,999.0.

The ASX's materials/mining sector suffered its biggest loss since April 7, dropping 2.6 per cent as copper prices suffered their biggest-ever one-day loss.

The red metal sank 20 per cent after the Trump administration said a 50 per cent copper tariff that comes into effect on Friday would only apply to semi-finished products such as pipes and wires, and not the sheets of refined copper known as cathode.

Traders had bet the tariffs would apply to all refined copper products, creating a race to ship cathode into the US and sending the US price of the red metal significantly higher than global benchmarks.

ANZ commodity strategists Daniel Hynes and Soni Kumari said there was now a real risk some of the 250,000 tonnes of copper sitting in US warehouses would be e-exported to international markets, which would put downward pressure on copper prices.

BHP dropped 2.4 per cent to $39.25 and Rio Tinto fell 3.6 per cent to $111.70 while one of the ASX's biggest copper-focused miners, Sandfire Resources, fell 4.2 per cent to a two-month low of $10.64.

Non-copper miners were also deep in the red, with goldminer Evolution falling 3.0 per cent, lithium miner Pilbara retreating 7.0 per cent and diversified miner Mineral Resources dropping 7.1 per cent.

The tariff news overshadowed a number of other items affecting Australian market sentiment, including a Federal Reserve decision to leave US interest rates on hold, with chairman Jerome Powell cautioning that a rate cut in September was no certainty either.

The US dollar strengthened following his remarks, sending the Aussie back under 65 US cents for the first time in a fortnight.

Close to 5pm, the commodity currency was trading for 64.73 US cents, from 65.12 US cents at a similar time on Wednesday.

Traders were also mulling better-than-expected Australian retail sales for June, along with a sharp rise in residential building approvals that month as well.

In addition, US tech giants Meta and Microsoft both posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, boosting Australia's technology names.

Technology One added 1.9 per cent and Life360 rose 3.2 per cent, with the ASX tech sector as a whole lifting 1.3 per cent.

In the consumer discretionary sector, Cettire was also reeling from US tariffs after President Donald Trump issued an executive order revoking a duty-free exception for low-value imports into the US.

Cettire's shares plunged 23.5 per cent per cent to a six-month low of 26 cents after the luxury clothing dropshipper said such imports, with a value of less than $US800, represented about 40 per cent of its revenue in recent months.

Elsewhere in the sector, Flight Centre fell close to its lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, dropping 7.3 per cent to $11.94, after the online travel agency said it would not meet its already-downgraded profit guidance.

The June quarter had been extremely challenging for its leisure business as tourists stayed away from the US and fighting in the Middle East kept travellers close to home, Flight Centre said.

In the financial sector, the big four banks all finished higher, with CBA rising 0.5 per cent to $177.91, NAB advancing 1.1 per cent to $38.91, Westpac growing 0.3 per cent to $33.82 and ANZ edging 0.1 per cent higher at $30.72.

ON THE ASX:

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Thursday dropped 13.6 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 8,742.8

The broader All Ordinaries added 16.4 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 8,999

The NZX 50 Lost -2.98 points (-0.02%) to 12820.76

[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:

U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA fell 0.7% to 44,130.98, the S&P 500 dropped 0.4% to 6,339.39 and the Nasdaq was unchanged at 21,122.45.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were eBay Inc EBAY surging 18.33%, C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc CHRW jumped 18.09%, and Meta Platforms Inc META lifted 11.30%.

The biggest decliners were Align Technology Inc ALGN which dropped 36.95%, Baxter International Inc BAX fell 22.51%, and International Paper Co IP lost 12.74%.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index declined 1.2% to 3,573.21 and the Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 1.4% to 2,175.10.

Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 1.6% to 24,773.33.

Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average lifted 1% to 41,069.82.

India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX fell 0.4% to 81,185.58.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished flat. The FTSE 100 Index was unchanged at 9,132.81. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX fell 0.8% to 24,065.47, and the France's CAC 40 slipped 1.1% to 7,771.97