Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket fell to its lowest level in nearly seven months on Friday on global volatility as the air strikes continued in the Middle East. But the gold price softened. The S&P/NZX 50 Index had a late rise in the brokers’ matching session and closed at 12,989.99, down 61.62 points or 0.47%. It was last at that level on September 1 at 13,070.45 points. The index declined nearly 1.5% for the week and has fallen 4.3% so far this year. There were 106 decliners and 37 gainers on the main board, and trading reached 163.1 million shares worth $564.83 million because of the quarterly rebalance for the NZX and FTSE Russell indices.
Vital Healthcare Property Trust, up 1c to $1.89 on trade worth $32.09m, is being added to the FTSE EPRA Nareit Global Real Estate Index. Heartland Group, gaining 1.5c to $1.235 on trade worth $35.41m, is joining the FTSE Small Cap Index in place of Air New Zealand. The national airline is flying at all-time lows after declining 0.005c to 43c.
Brent Crude oil was down 1.36% to US$107.20 (NZ$182.20) a barrel, while the gold price has fallen from US$5000 an ounce to US$4698 in three days. The European Central Bank, Banks of England and of Japan all held their cash rates steady like the US Federal Reserve the day before, but signalled they may be more aggressive if the conflict keeps energy prices elevated.
At home, market leader Fisher & Paykel Healthcare continued to fall, down 82c or 2.2% to $36.41 on trade worth $67.39m after reaching $41.23 on March 2. Auckland International Airport was up 7c to $8.20 on trade worth $79.11m, the highest of the day. Spark was down 6c or 2.78% to $2.10, its lowest level for nearly 11 months; Vulcan Steel declined 39c or 5.28% to $7; and Precinct Properties decreased 5c or 4.5% to $1.06. Sky TV was down 8c or 2.46% to $3.17; Oceania Healthcare shed 3.5c or 4.52% to 74c; Winton Land decreased 6c or 3.06% to $1.90; and Hallenstein Glasson declined 34c or 3.54% to $9.26. Chorus was up 24c or 2.25% to $9.66; Gentrack increased 33c or 4.63% to $7.45; a2 Milk gained 10c to $11.42; ANZ added $1.12 or 2.5% to $45.95; and Eroad collected 4c or 4.94% to 85c.
Genesis Energy went into a trading halt while it completed a small shortfall bookbuild on its rights offer, which initially raised $242.7m from 80.9% of eligible shareholders, including the Crown, maintaining its 51% shareholding. Genesis last traded at $2.22.
Santana Minerals, up 1.5c to 95.5c, has completed its share purchase plan at 90c a share and raised A$1.4m (NZ$4.93m) with 860 of 4200 eligible shareholders participating. This follows the placement of A$130m.
Asset Plus, down 0.004c or 2.09% to 18.7c, told the market that the valuation for the Albany Munroe Lane building was $105.5m at the end of March, down from $107m, but added to this was capital expenditure and leasing costs, and the fair value of the building is expected to be reduced by $7.1m. This represents a forecast 1.9c a share reduction in the net tangible assets to 30.5c at the end of March, Asset said.
Rakon, up 0.005c to $1.495, told the market it expects to deliver full-year operating earnings (ebitda) in the lower half of its $15m-$24m guidance. Bourns, which has made a takeover offer at $1.55 a share, now has more than 72% of Rakon shares.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 134 points Lower at 8339.
Friday 20 March 2026 - close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's stock market is trading at its weakest level in nine months after the Iran war and the resulting energy shock prompted multiple central banks to brace for higher interest rates.
The S&P/ASX200 fell 69.4 points on Friday, down 0.82 per cent to 8,428.4, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 62.4 points, or 0.72 per cent, to 8,628.3.
The All Ordinaries, which comprises the bourse's 500 most-valuable companies, is trading at its lowest value since June, falling for three straight weeks since the US and Israel began bombing Iran in early March, sparking a broader regional conflict.
The top 500 has dropped from all-time highs by eight per cent since the fighting began, wiping more than $273 billion from its formerly $3.2 trillion market cap in three weeks.
Market moves were dependent on energy price volatility and the outlook for the conflict remained highly uncertain, Capital.com senior market analyst Kyle Rodda said.
"Higher inflation and lower growth is kryptonite to stocks," Mr Rodda told AAP.
"We're still in the midst of the war and for as long as that lasts I think things can be fairly bearish and certainly very volatile."
Australia's heavyweight mining sector has been hammered, with basic materials crumbling more by more than a fifth since the conflict began, putting the segment in a technical bear market.
"Naturally, the sector is going to be the worst-impacted by the crisis because of the impact on economic growth," Mr Rodda said.
"Also, we've seen a fairly significant drawdown in gold prices, mostly due to rate expectations changing and the US dollar surging."
Gold is trading hands at $US4,696 ($A6,628) an ounce, down from January's $US5,595 record peak.
Local energy stocks have surged more than 16 per cent higher since the conflict started, with strong gains for coal miners, Woodside and Santos.
Uranium stocks weren't so fortunate, as the dimming outlook for economic growth weighed on narratives around the global data centre build-out.
The financial sector was relatively resilient throughout the week, despite Morgan Stanley flagging economic headwinds for Australia's major banks.
Commonwealth Bank shares actually gained more than one per cent since Monday to trade at $175.64, while Westpac edged higher but NAB and ANZ fell behind.
With the fog of war shrouding the outlook, AMP is forecasting about a 15 per cent slump in equities markets from recent highs.
"Global and Australian share markets are at high risk of further falls in the near term in response to the war with Iran," AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said.
This was against a backdrop of stretched valuations, political uncertainty around US President Donald Trump and the US midterm elections, and increasing worries about private credit and artificial intelligence valuations, Dr Oliver said.
The Australian dollar is buying 70.86 US cents, up from 70.37 US cents on Thursday afternoon.
The Aussie's appreciation came as bets narrowed on more interest rate hikes in 2026 following hawkish pivots from major central banks in the US, the UK and the EU.
Local markets are leaning towards three further rate increases in 2026, which would take the cash rate to 4.85 per cent, a level not seen since 2008.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 dropped 69.4 points, or 0.82 per cent, to 8,428.4
The broader All Ordinaries fell 62.4 points, or 0.72 per cent, to 8,628.3
The NZX 50 Lost -61.62 points (-0.47%) to 12,989.99 while the Nikkei dropped -1866.87 points (-3.50%) at the time of writing, to be closed at 53,372.53
Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):
NRW Holdings Limited
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]: U.S. stocks ended lower. The DJIA fell 1% to 45,577.47, the S&P 500 slipped 1.5% to 6,506.48, and the Nasdaq dropped 2% to 21,647.61.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were APA Corp APA surging 2.76%, Aon PLC AON jumped 2.73%, and The Trade Desk Inc TTD lifted 2.55%.
The biggest decliners were Super Micro Computer Inc SMCI which dropped 33.18%, Vistra Corp VST fell 12.72%, and Constellation Energy Corp CEG lost 11.17%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.2% to 3,957.05, and the Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 1.2% to 2,589.1.
Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 0.9% to 25,277.32.
Japanese shares closed lower. The Nikkei Stock Average declined 3.4% to 53,372.53.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX added 0.4% to 74,532.96.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index fell 1.4% to 9,918.33.
In Europe, shares closed lower. Germany's DAX fell 2% to 22,380.19, and France's CAC 40 declined 1.8% to 7,665.62.
