Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket, driven down by Ebos and a2 Milk, had its first fall in five days and is looking for definitive leads from offshore. The S&P/NZX 50 Index initially defied weakness on Wall Street but then gradually slid in the afternoon and closed at 13,074.81, down 58.34 points or 0.44% after reaching an intraday high of 13,158.78. There were 69 gainers and 70 decliners on volumes of 39.1 million share transactions worth $127.6m.
The United States markets had followed the Labour Day holiday with reasonable falls. There was one shining light after Alphabet, owner of Google, rose 6.73% to US$226.25 (NZ$386) in after-hours trading. A US federal judge ruled that Google didn’t have to sell its Chrome browser or Android operating system following a major antitrust case. Google, however, will have to share valuable search data with competitors to foster online search competition.
Other Asian-Pacific markets were also down, at 6pm NZT. Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had fallen 1.41% to 8,775.00 points despite growth in national gross domestic product (GDP). NZ-bred accounting software firm Xero was down 6.1% to A$149.92 (NZ$166.79). The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index had declined 0.77% to 25,300.32 points; Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.93% to 41,912.51; and the Shanghai Composite had fallen 1.35% to 3,805.97on the day of the military parade in the Chinese capital.
Economic growth rebounded in Australia in the June quarter to 0.6% and 1.8% for the year, above the forecast of 1.6% and the 1.3% in the previous 12-month period. Global markets have opened the month with a distinct sense of caution as investors await the next round of central bank signals and key economic data. Attention has shifted from the summer’s rally (in the US) to the durability of the global economic recovery. US jobs data on Friday is seen as a key event on whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates after its policy review meeting on September 16 and 17.
At home, Ebos Group fell 60c or 1.82% to $32.40, and a2 Milk declined 29c or 2.77% to $10.19 on trades worth $6.36m and $3.2m respectively. Auckland International Airport shed 11.5c to $7.515, Spark eased 5c or 1.91% to $2.565 on trade worth $6.8m; and the dual-listed banking groups ANZ and Westpac were down 75c or 2.01% to $36.50 and $1.33 or 3.11% to $41.45 respectively.
Hallenstein Glasson continued to climb, up 35c or 4% to a record high of $9.10 following the sudden resignation of its chief executive. Ryman Healthcare improved 7c or 2.82% to $2.55; Napier Port gained 10c or 3.25% to $3.18; Winton Land rose 10c or 4.55% to $2.30; Scales Corp increased 17c or 3.33% to $5.27, and Sky TV was up 7c or 2.24% to $3.20.
Energy company Vector, up 1c to $4.62, has appointed Chris Blenkiron as the new group CEO to replace Simon Mackenzie, who leaves at the end of the year. Blenkiron has been the chief executive at Rio Tinto’s Tiwai Point aluminium smelter near Invercargill – the smelter is the largest energy user in New Zealand.
Tait Communications disclosed it has so far secured 68.6% of the shares in communications services provider Vital, down 1c or 2.38% to 41c. Tait has said that if it doesn’t receive 90% or more acceptance to its takeover offer, at 45c a share, by Sept 12, then the deal is off.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 31 points higher at 8756.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has had its worst day since April, as a spike in long-dated bond yields had investors considering fixed income assets for better returns.
The S&P/ASX200 slumped 161.8 points, or 1.82 per cent, to 8,738.8, as the broader All Ordinaries fell 157.9 points, or 1.72 per cent, to 9,010.1, wiping more than $53 billion from the top-500's combined $3.1 trillion market cap.
The local bourse's drop echoed similar moves in global equities, following a spike in yields as bonds sold off amid fears over nations' fiscal deficits, sticky inflation and US President Trump's flagged interventions with the US Federal Reserve.
"It's not so much that yields go higher, it's the pace of the rising yields" IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore told AAP.
"And while not quite at those levels where you would start to get alarmed, it does pay to be very watchful about what happens to them next."
All 11 local sectors closed in the red, with interest rate-sensitive financials (-2.8per cent), IT stocks (-3.9 per cent) and real estate stocks (-2.4 per cent) leading the losses.
The ASX200's top-five worst performers on Wednesday were in tech or real estate.
Each of the big four banks sold off, led by more than 3.5 per cent dips in CBA and Westpac.
Raw materials stocks were also heavy, as BHP slipped 1.3 per cent to $42.29 a share.
Local gold miners were initially buoyed by the sell-off in bonds and equities as futures in the precious metal breached $US3,600 ($A5,525) an ounce, but by the end of the day they were mostly flat.
Pantoro Gold was an exception, the top-200's best performer with a 3.1 per cent lift to $5.25.
Xero was at the other end of the table, sliding 6.2 per cent to below $150 a share. The accounting software company has lost more than 23 per cent of its value since completing its institutional share placement in late July.
Energy stocks fell 1.2 per cent, fading along with the oil price as data showed US manufacturing contracted for a sixth-straight month.
Woolworths continued its post-results sell-off, shedding more than 17 per cent following its earnings announcement a week ago.
Health care stocks have continued to be under pressure, losing one per cent on Wednesday and the sector down almost 15 per cent since CSL's earning's miss.
The Australian dollar is buying 65.11 US cents, down from 65.39 US cents on Tuesday at 5pm.
The Aussie enjoyed a brief uptick after Australia's March quarter GDP growth beat expectations, but the move faded to a memory within a few hours.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 dropped 161.8 points on Wednesday, or 1.82 per cent, to 8,738.8
The broader All Ordinaries fell 157.9 points, or 1.72 per cent, to 9,010.1
The NZX 50 Lost -44.00 points (-0.34%) to 13030.81
Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):
Amcor Plc
ARN Media Limited
Bapcor Limited
BHP Group Limited
Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Limited
EBOS Group Limited
NIB Holdings Limited
Reliance Worldwide Corporation Limited
TPG Telecom Limited
Yancoal Australia Limited
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA dropped 0.1% to 45,271.23, the S&P 500 added 0.5% to 6,448.26 and the Nasdaq lifted 1% to 21,497.73.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Alphabet Inc GOOGL surging 9.12%, Alphabet Inc GOOG jumped 9.01%, and The Campbell's Co CPB lifted 7.22%.
The biggest decliners were Dollar Tree Inc DLTR which dropped 8.41%, Intuitive Surgical Inc ISRG fell 5.94%, and Revvity Inc RVTY lost 5.13%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index declined 1.2% to 3,813.56 and the Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 1.4% to 2,380.30.
Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index declined 0.6% to 25,343.43.
Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.9% to 41,938.89.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX rose 0.5% to 80,567.71.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index added 0.7% to 9,177.99. In Europe, shares closed higher. The Germany's DAX gained 0.5% to 23,594.80, and the France's CAC 40 climbed 0.9% to 7,719.71
