Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket ended the week with a gain of nearly 1%, and casino and hotel operator SkyCity grabbed the spotlight after falling back over the past few years. The S&P/NZX 50 Index picked up momentum late morning and closed at 13,495.63 Friday, up 132.32 points or 0.99% after reaching an intraday low of 13,359.49. The index is getting close to breaking even for the year after falling 6.2% at one stage. The index gained more than 0.7% for the week and is down 0.4% for the year to date. There were 81 gainers and 56 decliners on the main board, with turnover reaching 142 million shares worth $599.6 million.
Infratil, up 27c or 1.82% to $15.07, dominated trading, with $103.08m worth of shares changing hands. The energy sector rallied with Meridian rising 31c or 5.42% to $6.03; Mercury increasing 24c or 3.56% to $6.99; Contact gaining 15c to $9.69; and Genesis adding 7c or 2.71% to $2.65. There were also strong gains from Ebos Group, rebounding 38c or 1.89% to $20.53; a2 Milk, rising 63c or 8.42% to $8.11; and Hallenstein Glasson, adding 30 c or 3.03% to $10.20.
In the property sector, Goodman NZ increased 6c or 2.87% to $2.15; Argosy was up 2.5c or 2.38% to $1.07; and Stride gained 2.5c or 2.23% to $1.14.
SkyCity Entertainment rose 6.5c or 12.62% to 58c after settling with the Commissioner for Liquor and Gambling in South Australia over regulatory issues involving its Adelaide casino, following an independent review by a former Supreme Court judge. SkyCity is paying a fine of A$21m (NZ$25.6m) in three equal instalments over two years – less than half the amount expected by the market. An independent SkyCity Adelaide board and chief executive will be appointed to enhance governance, compliance and operational commitments for the casino. SkyCity’s share price fell from $4 to $1.82 in March 2020 and has never recovered, reaching a recent low of 46.5c. Its share price has fallen 30% over the past 12 months.
Auto retailer 2 Cheap Cars increased 10c or 16.67% to 70c after reporting continued positive trading in the first three months of the 2027 financial year. Net profit for April and May was about $0.6m, matching the March monthly return at the end of the previous financial year. The sector was also boosted, with Turners Automotive gaining 29c or 3.49% to $8.59, and Colonial Motor adding 12c or 1.74% to $7.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare decreased 41c to 38.37; Spark was down 3.5c or 1.85% to $1.86; NZX declined 5c or 3.47% to $1.39; Comvita fell 2.5c or 3.52% to 68.5c; and Fletcher Building shed 9c or 2.75% to $3.18.
Rua Gold, unchanged at $1.60, said it was on track to complete its pre-feasibility study for the West Coast Reefton Auld Creek gold-antimony project in the fourth quarter this year. The miner said the drilling programme continues to demonstrate significant potential to expand the gold-antimony resource over a strike length exceeding 1000 metres and depths greater than 500m.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 16 points higher at 8880.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has wiped most of the week's gains in two sessions, as a rising greenback and global growth concerns dragged metals prices lower.
The S&P/ASX200 fell 82.4 points on Friday, down 0.92 per cent, to 8,828.7, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 79.5 points, or 0.87 per cent, to 9,047.3.
The top-200 scraped a gain of less than 0.3 per cent for the week, after a four-day rally on the US-Iran peace deal disintegrated from Thursday as tumbling metals prices hammered local miners.
Only the energy sector, health care companies and consumer-facing stocks ended the week's final session higher.
"It's that fall in the mining sector that's making the difference on the market, because without that, we'd be very close to square on the day," Moomoo market strategist Michael McCarthy told AAP.
"Having said that, volumes are weak, and so I think we probably could find this as not a panic, but rather a buyers' strike on the day."
BHP shares tanked by 5.6 per cent in their worst session since April 2025, after it announced a write down at its Canadian Jansen potash project.
Rio Tinto and Fortescue also suffered, as iron ore prices lingered at 15-week lows and copper prices eased.
Gold sank to $US4,144 ($A5,912) an ounce, dragging its local sub-index 3.8 per cent underwater with it.
Financials eased less than 0.1 per cent on Friday, but ended the five sessions 1.4 per cent higher, locking in a second week of gains after broadly selling off since April.
Energy stocks tumbled more than seven per cent since Monday, with oil prices finally succumbing to gravity as the US and Iran inked their preliminary peace deal.
The sector (and crude) gained ground on Friday, after further peace talks between the two nations in Switzerland were called off, raising questions about the truce.
Health care stocks outperformed for the session and the week, the defensive segment benefiting from risk-off positioning and offering value after plummeting by roughly 50 per cent since August.
Biotechnology giant CSL led the charge, its shares surging more than seven per cent in its best day in more than four years.
In company news, Skycity Entertainment soared more than 14 per cent after it paid $21 million for anti-money laundering breaches at its Adelaide Casino.
Defence technology firm Electro Optic Systems traded more than 14 per cent higher after winning a $US124 million ($A177 million) contract with UAE defence group Generation 5.
The Aussie dollar is buying 70.12 US cents, down from 70.38 US cents on Thursday, as the greenback strength index sailed to 13-month highs as bets narrowed on incoming US interest rate hikes.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 fell 82.4 points, or 0.92 per cent, to 8,828.7
The broader All Ordinaries lost 79.5 points, or 0.87 per cent, to 9,047.3
The NZX 50 added 41.44 points (0.31%) to 13537.07
Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Limited
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA gained 0.1% to 51,564.70, the S&P 500 lifted 1.1% to 7,500.58 and the Nasdaq rose 1.9% to 26,517.93.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were SanDisk Corp SNDK surging 11.54%, Corning Inc GLW jumped 11.13%, and Intel Corp INTC lifted 10.64%.
The biggest decliners were Accenture PLC ACN which dropped 17.02%, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp CTSH fell 10.55%, and The Kroger Co KR lost 8.40%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed mixed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.4% to 4,090.48 and the Shenzhen Composite Index added 0.5% to 2,853.37.
Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 1.6% to 23,924.81.
Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.3% to 71,250.06.
India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX fell 0.8% to 76,802.90.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.4% to 10,363.27. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX fell 0.2% to 24,985.82, and the France's CAC 40 slipped 0.6% to 8,421.14
