Market Announcements
Market Summary
It was all quiet on the New Zealand sharemarket while investors were glued to the start of the reporting season in Australia and some big price movements. The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed at 13,507.28, down 6.4 points or 0.05%, after some choppy trading and falling to an intraday low of 13,413.76. Volumes were a little lighter with 33.1 million shares worth $111.1m changing hands. There were 79 gainers and 56 decliners on the main board.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index had surged through the 9,000 points level at 6pm NZ time yesterday after gaining 1.55% to 9,005.2. At that time, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which owns ASB Bank, was up 7.72% to A$170.99 (NZ$200.7) after reporting a 5% increase in net profit to A$5.412 billion for the six months ending December. CBA said lending and deposit volumes growth in the core businesses was offset by lower margins and higher operating expenses due to inflation and continued investment in technology. ASB reported cash net profit of $719m, up 1% on the previous corresponding period. Since December 2024, home lending grew 8%, business and rural lending increased 4%, and total customer deposits were up 5%. But net customer margins remained flat. Vittoria Shortt, ASB chief executive, said that the geopolitical outlook remained uncertain, “We are seeing more confidence in the economy, supported by lower interest rates and good export earnings in key sectors. This is evident in the uptick we’ve seen in business lending.”
Building materials company James Hardie had risen 10.66% to A$36.78 after reporting strong third quarter earnings, with net sales increasing 30% to A$1.2b, operating income reaching $176,m and adjusted ebitda hitting $330m. Biotechnology multi-national CSL was down 5.95% to A$161.18 after reporting first-half revenue of A$8.3b, up 4%, and net profit of $401m, which was impacted by one-off restructuring costs and impairment. Also across the Tasman, Aussie Broadband (ABB) had risen 14.57% to A$5.19 after announcing it is buying telecommunications business AGL Energy and adding 350,000 broadband services and mobile connections, and 46,000 voice services. ABB is initially placing 22m shares worth A$115m to AGL in June.
Back home, Ebos Group, reporting on Feb 25, continued to hover around five-year lows after falling 80c, or 3.1%, to $25.
Heavyweight Fisher & Paykel Healthcare led the market lower, along with Ebos, which declined 63c to $39.35. Freightways shed 14c to $14.81; Serko decreased 9c or 3.61% to $2.40; Vista Group was down 7c or 3.55% to $1.90; Tourism Holdings declined 10c or 4.08% to $2.35; and Blackpearl Group eased 3c or 2.78% to $1.05. Bremworth declined 3.5c or 4.86% to 68.5c after telling shareholders to expect a lower return from its scheme of arrangement with Mohawk Industries.
Westpac increased $1.40 or 3.05% to $47.26; a2 Milk gained 25c to $10.13; ikeGPS rose 4c to $1.04; Green Cross Health was up 9c to $1.48; Third Age Health added 14c or 2.66% to $5.41; and KMD Brands ended on 25.5c.
Fletcher Building, up 4c to $3.77, is selling its Felix St industrial property in Auckland’s Onehunga to Goodman Property Trust for $53.5m. Goodman Trust, gaining 1.5c to $1.92, said the 5.1ha redevelopment site supports a wide range of modern warehousing options. Argosy Property, up 3.5c or 3% to $1.20, told the market it has unconditionally sold its Henderson Place property in Auckland for $39.5m, representing a premium of 16.6% above the September valuation.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 8 points lower at 8996.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market is trading at its highest level since late October after CommBank shares rocketed higher on a record $5.4 billion first-half cash profit.
The S&P/ASX200 jumped 147.4 points on Wednesday, up 1.66 per cent, to 9,014.8, while the broader All Ordinaries rose 141.9 points, or 1.55 per cent, to 9,281.8.
Dual rallies in the heavyweight financials and raw materials sectors drove the move, led by strong earnings beats from Commonwealth Bank and James Hardie, Capital.com senior market analyst Kyle Rodda said.
"To contextualise it in terms of the broader market though, if you zoom out we've been going up in spite of earnings growth and (economic) growth, not because of it," Mr Rodda told AAP.
Commonwealth Bank shares jumped more than six per cent to $169.63, adding a tidy $20 billion to its now $286 billion market cap, sending its big four competitors higher in tandem as investors sought similar returns and fatter dividends.
NAB and Westpac carved out solid gains above three and two per cent respectively, while ANZ had to settle for a modest 1.3 per cent boost.
"The industry group is so macro driven, and this is a strong macro signal that lending was a little bit stronger throughout the half for the Australian economy that, by extension, the other banks should benefit from that as well," Mr Rodda said.
Eight of 11 local sectors traded higher on Wednesday, while energy stocks traded flat and real estate stocks missed out on the gains.
The health care segment tumbled 2.9 per cent, as CSL shares were hammered after a major profit slump and the sudden exit of boss Paul McKenzie.
James Hardie best of the basic materials large caps, soaring more than ten per cent, after its third quarter sales rose 30 per cent to $US1.2 billion ($A1.7 billion).
Mega miners BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue also did their bit to push the sector to new all-time highs, each gaining more than 1.2 per cent, supported by rebounding commodity prices.
Energy stocks traded just below flat,as modest upticks in oil, gas and uranium producers ballasted weakness in coal miners.
In more earnings results, Stokes family-owned SGH rose by 3.6 per cent to $50.91 after it delivered a strong first-half result, while its takeover target Bluescope Steel slipped 0.9 per cent to $28.95 by the close.
AGL shares surged almost 12 per cent higher after it beat its earnings expectations for the six-months to December, helping lift the utilities sector 2.4 per cent.
Its competitor Origin will deliver its interim results on Thursday, along with South32, Northern Star, Paladin Energy, IAG, and AMP.
Bourse operator ASX Ltd will also hand down financials, after announcing CEO and managing director Helen Lofthouse will stand down in May.
The Australian dollar is trading above 71 US cents for the first time since January 2023, propelled by rebounding commodity prices and a higher local interest rate outlook.
The Aussie is buying 71.16 US cents, up from 70.71 US cents on Tuesday at 5pm AEDT.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 gained 147.4 points, or 1.66 per cent, to 9,014.8
The broader All Ordinaries rose 141.9 points, or 1.55 per cent, to 9,281.9
The NZX 50 Lost -8.90 points (-0.07%) to 13498.38
Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):
Scentre Group
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA declined 0.1% to 50,121.40, the S&P 500 was unchanged at 6,941.47 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.2% to 23,066.47.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Generac Holdings Inc GNRC surging 17.93%, SanDisk Corp SNDK jumped 10.53%, and Micron Technology Inc MU lifted 9.94%.
The biggest decliners were CBRE Group Inc CBRE which dropped 12.24%, Leidos Holdings Inc LDOS fell 11.15%, and Robinhood Markets Inc HOOD lost 8.80%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed mixed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lifted 0.1% to 4,131.98 and the Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 0.2% to 2,695.16.
Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 0.3% to 27,266.38.
Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average lifted 2.3% to 57,650.54.
India shares ended flat. The BSE SENSEX was unchanged at 84,233.64.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index lifted 1.1% to 10,472.11. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX slipped 0.5% to 24,856.15, and the France's CAC 40 dropped 0.2% to 8,313.24
