Market Announcements
Market Summary
New Zealand held its ground while other Asia Pacific sharemarkets stumbled as the sell-off in semiconductor and technology stocks continued. The S&P/NZX 50 Index had a choppy session but closed flat at 13,495.24, up 2.19 points, or 0.02%. The index was dead even for the week. There were 72 gainers and 60 decliners on the main board, with turnover reaching 38.3 million shares worth $149m. Freightways, rising 57c or 4.28% to $13.89, dominated the trading with $21.48m worth of shares changing hands.
In the United States, investors continued to worry about hyperscaler spending on AI and who would foot the bill. Those fears outweighed upbeat signals on AI demand from chipmakers Micron and Qualcomm. The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.46% 25,358.6 points, marking its first four-day string of losses since February. The S&P 500 was steady at 7,357.49 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.14% to 51,920.62. Apple was down 6.15% to US$275.15 after announcing price increases for the MacBook and iPad due to higher component costs, such as chips. Two weeks after listing, SpaceX was down to US$153, having peaked at $201.8 on June 16. Rocket Lab has also fallen back, down 5.53% to US$80.69 after hitting a high of $150.23 a month ago.
In South Korea, the Kospi Index was down 6.87% at 5.45pm NZ time Friday, with Samsung declining 7.46% and SK Hynix falling 8.19%. The early plunge in the index triggered a 20-minute circuit-breaker halt in trading for the second time this week. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 4.17% with SoftBank, a major backer of OpenAI, plunging 12.67%. SoftBank has invested US$64 billion in OpenAI and holds a 13% shareholding.
At home, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 23c to $38.45; Turners Automotive declined 20c or 2.33% to $8.40; Delegat Group decreased 11c or 2.78% to $3.85; and Santana Minerals fell 3c or 5% to 57c. In the energy sector, Mercury was down 13c or 1.9% to $6.70; Meridian eased 7c to $5.75; Contact shed 15c to $9.24; and Vector was up 13c or 2.63% to $5.07.
In the retail sector, Hallenstein Glasson was down 12c to 10.08, and Briscoe Group was up 12c or 2.63% to $4.68. Mainfreight gained 58c to $60.20; Port of Tauranga was up 16c or 1.87% to $8.73; Seeka increased 15c or 3.03% to $5.10; Serko added 4c or 2.76% to $1.49; and Ebos Group collected 21c to $20.65. Scott Technology rose 13c or 5.2% to $2.63; Stride Property was up 2c or 1.79% to $1.14; Allied Farmers gained 2c or 3.17% to 65c; and TradeWindow added 1c or 5.88% to 18c.
Vista Group, up 3c to $2.48, announced a new agreement with existing client Cineplex, one of Europe’s leading cinema operators, based in Vienna. Cineplex’s 59 sites and more than 400 screens will transition to the Vista Cloud management software platform. KMD Brands, down 0.002c or 2.7% to 7.2c, has refinanced its existing debt with $208m of syndicated multi-currency revolving facilities for 2.5 years, providing the retailer with funding through to October 2028. CDL Investments, unchanged at 71c, told the market that its Middle Road residential project in Havelock North has been accepted for the fast-track approvals process. The project is expected to deliver 300-350 residential sections and future housing choices.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 38 points higher at 8829.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: The Australian share market has finished higher for the day as gold rebounded after hitting an eight-month low, but local shares still lost ground for the week.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index rose 15.5 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 8,764.2 on Friday, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 12.6 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 8,964.2.
The ASX200 dropped 0.7 per cent for the week, leaving it up just 0.6 per cent so far in 2026.
Moomoo ANZ dealing manager Chris Strazzeri said there was pressure overnight on large technology stocks such as Apple, Amazon and Microsoft over concerns about their valuations.
But commodities provided a brighter backdrop, with oil, gold and silver rebounding after several sessions of losses, Mr Strazzeri said.
The 10 biggest gainers in the ASX200 on Friday were all goldminers as the precious metal rose back above Thursday's eight-month low of $US4,000 to change hands at $US4,047 an ounce.
Thailand-focused Kingsgate Consolidated led the way with a 4.5 per cent gain, followed by Ramelius Resources and Perseus Mining, which climbed 3.8 and 3.6 per cent, respectively.
Gold is still down 12 per cent since the start of June, mostly due to increased expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise US interest rates later this year.
Elsewhere in the materials sector, BHP rose 0.8 per cent to $58.99, Rio Tinto grew 2.2 per cent to $173.64 and Fortescue added 0.7 per cent to $19.07.
Overall, seven of the ASX's 11 sectors finished higher and four closed lower.
Health care lost 1.3 per cent as CSL retreated 2.4 per cent to $114.87.
Technology dropped 1.2 per cent following the weak lead from Wall Street, with NEXTDC falling 4.5 per cent and Megaport retreating 3.3 per cent.??
The energy sector finished up 0.5 per cent as Brent crude changed hands for $US73.80 a barrel, up about $US1 from Thursday.
Woodside gained 0.8 per cent, Santos added 1.4 per cent and Whitehaven Coal grew 1.1 per cent.??
In the financial sector, the big four banks had a relatively subdued day.
NAB added 0.1 per cent to $37.51, Westpac climbed 0.2 per cent to $35.14, ANZ rose 0.5 per cent to $35.04 and CBA lost 0.4 per cent to $162.02.
The Australian dollar was trading at 68.97 US cents, from 68.91 US cents at 5pm on Thursday.
In crypto, Bitcoin fell below $US60,000 for the first time since September 2024, its value having dropped by almost a third since the start of the year.
BTC was changing hands for $US59,300, or about $A86,000 on Australian exchanges.
AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said that, like gold, Bitcoin was getting hit by expectations the Fed would hike rates, increasing the opportunity cost of holding both instruments.
"With the rise of AI and associated trades, Bitcoin and crypto have also lost some of their gloss and excitement value lately, as they are no longer seen as new," Dr Oliver said.
ON THE ASX:
??The S&P/ASX200 rose 15.5 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 8,764.2
The broader All Ordinaries gained 12.6 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 8,964.2
The NZX 50 Lost -42.87 points (-0.32%) to 13452.37
Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):
APA Group
Arena REIT
Aspen Group
BWP Trust
Centuria Industrial REIT
Centuria Office REIT
Charter Hall Group
Charter Hall Long Wale REIT
Charter Hall Retail REIT
Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT
Cromwell Property Group
Dexus
Dexus Industria REIT
Digico Infrastructure REIT
DPM Metals Inc.
Gemlife Communities Group
Goodman Group
GPT Group
Growthpoint Properties Australia
HomeCo Daily Needs REIT
Liberty Financial Group
Mirvac Group
Region Group
Rural Funds Group
Stockland
Transurban Group
Waypoint REIT Limited
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA dropped 0.1% to 51,876.11, the S&P 500 was unchanged at 7,354.02 and the Nasdaq fell 0.2% to 25,297.62.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Moderna Inc MRNA surging 12.62%, FactSet Research Systems Inc FDS jumped 10.97%, and ServiceNow Inc NOW lifted 9.85%.
The biggest decliners were ON Semiconductor Corp ON which dropped 23.66%, Western Digital Corp WDC fell 13.17%, and Seagate Technology Holdings PLC STX lost 12.24%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 2.3% to 4,027.26 and the Shenzhen Composite Index fell 3.1% to 2,786.04.
Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index slipped 1.8% to 22,671.86.
Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average declined 4.2% to 69,360.88.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX lifted 0.1% to 77,100.47.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index declined 0.2% to 10,508.02. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX fell 1.3% to 24,671.22, and the France's CAC 40 declined 0.6% to 8,384.87
