NZ Sharemarket Falls Over 1%

A cautious New Zealand sharemarket lost more than 1% yesterday following a fall on Wall Street, amidst nervousness about the high-flying technology stocks and the economy. The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell at the opening and never recovered, shedding 156.22 points or 1.16% and closing at 13,342.82. There were 103 decliners and just 34 gainers on the main board with 42.4 million shares worth $172.7m changing hands.

Nvidia’s latest quarterly result will be released on Thursday morning NZ time. The earnings and outlook will set the tone for both technology stocks and market direction.

Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had fallen 1.98% to 8,465.4 points yesterday at 5.45pm NZ time.

At home, leading stocks Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 34c to $36.64; Infratil fell 27c or 2.27% to $11.60; Ebos Group declined 59c or 2% to $28.86; Spark decreased 6c or 2.62% to $2.23; and Auckland International Airport was down 13c to $7.77. Freightways shed 21c to $13.67; Gentrack was down a further 22c or 2.86% to $7.47; Ryman Healthcare declined 9c or 3.16% to $2.76; and Port of Tauranga decreased 17c or 2.23% to $7.45. In the energy sector, Meridian declined 16c or 2.69% to $5.79; Mercury was down 11c to $6.39; and Contact decreased 17c to $9.47.

In its October operating report, Contact recorded mass market electricity and gas sales of 385GWh compared with 320GWh in the same month last year.  Electricity generated or acquired was 1018GWh, up from 717GWh. Unit generation cost was $35.93 per MWh, down from $52.62.

There were solid updates from Serko, Sanford and Investore Property.  Online travel company Serko was up 10c or 4.08% to $2.55 after reporting a 45% increase in revenue to $61.76m for the six months ending September. Operating earnings were $6.1m, an improvement of $4.9m on the same period last year, and net loss was $9.5m, an 86% increase. The total spending to income ratio decreased from 106% to 97%. The Booking.com for Business drove the result, with room nights up 32% to 2.1m. Serko confirmed its income guidance of $115m-$123m for the 2026 financial year and revised its total spend to $124m-$128m, from $127m-$133m.

Seaford company Sanford climbed 31c or 5.04% to $6.46 after reporting steady full-year revenue of $584.11m and a near 234% rise in net profit to $63.69m. It is paying a final dividend of 5c a share on Dec 8. Operating earnings (ebit) increased 41.8% to $102.1m. Salmon contributed revenue of $127.5m, up 19.2%, and profit of $50.4m, up 23.2%; mussels $125.5m, down 6.4%, and $34.8m, up a record 150.4%; wildcatch a steady $318.9m and $52.4m, down 5.9%, The company told the market that “the worldwide demand for protein continues to increase and provides tailwinds for Sanford”.

Investore, down 3.5c or 2.87% to $1.18, reported a 1.34% increase in revenue to $31.61m and a 32% rise in net profit to $12.78m for the six months ending September. The net tangible assets (NTA) per share are $1.60, and the $1 billion bulk retail property portfolio has a 99% occupancy rate. Investore confirmed its full-year dividend guidance of 6.5c a share. Eroad, down 0.005c to $1.54, is providing vehicle monitoring, reporting and compliance software solutions to Cleanaway Waste Management’s fleet of more than 3,000 owned trucks in Australia. The deal, initially for five years, will contribute A$5m (NZ$5.73m) to Eroad’s annual recurring revenue.

Comvita slid another 1c or 2.04% to $0.48, with director Zhu Guangping stepping down at the annual meeting on Dec 17. Comvita’s share price has fallen from $3 in late November 2023 and reached a low of 45.5c on July 3 this year.

Source: Business Desk

Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 24 points lower at 8465.

- close [Morningstar with AAP]: The Australian share market has taken its second-biggest loss of the year as worries around technology valuations, inflation and global economic factors wore at investor confidence.

The S&P/ASX200 tumbled 167.3 points on Tuesday, down 1.94 per cent, to 8,469.1, as the broader All Ordinaries dropped 177.4 points, or 1.99 per cent, to 8,738.3.

Sweeping sell-offs dragged the bourse to its lowest level since June as minutes from the Reserve Bank's latest board meeting hinted only a major turnaround in inflation could leave the door open to more interest rate cuts.

All 11 local sectors grinded lower, with technology and materials leading the losses, slipping 6.1 per cent and three per cent respectively.

Uncertainty around the return of US economic data after the government shutdown, jitters in Japan's bond markets and de-risking ahead of key US tech company earnings contributed to a perfect storm of risk aversion, IG Market analyst Tony Sycamore said.

"It's been just a day of throwing the water and the baby all out together," he told AAP.

"We're now looking at a seven per cent decline from the highs we saw just four weeks ago for the Australian stock exchange."

The past four weeks have wipe more than $200 billion from the exchange's total value since hitting its record high in mid October.

"No one would have predicted a move like this today, it's just now whether the market comes in and feels that this was an overreaction and and decides to buy back some stocks," Mr Sycamore said.

Technology stocks led the dive locally with Brisbane-based firm Technology One suffering its worst day in two decades, plummeting 17.2 per cent after its full-year profit missed expectations.

The heavyweight financials sector dragged on the broader market, slipping almost two per cent as all big four banks bled lower and Commonwealth Bank shares sunk to seven-month lows of $153.22.

Raw materials tumbled three per cent, as iron ore giants, gold producers and mixed miners alike were hammered.

Spot gold fell to $US4,019 ($A6,199) an ounce, dropping more than four per cent since Thursday, as hopes of a US interest rate cut continued to fade, combined with a stronger US dollar and an unwinding of safe-haven buying during the recent US government shutdown.

Lithium interests were the only major bright side on the materials sector with Pilbara Minerals and Liontown posting 3.3 per cent and 2.1 per cent increases respectively.

Construction materials giant James Hardie was another outlier, jumping 9.9 per cent as it boosted its forward guidance on the back of solid quarterly earnings.

It was the top-200's best performer, but remains at a 37.5 per cent discount to mid-August, when its unsolicited Azek takeover enraged shareholders.

Sellers drained 1.8 per cent from the energy segment in a broad sell-off, as oil and gas prices edged lower, and as investors also hit the sell button on coal miners and uranium producers.

Real estate stocks fell 1.4 per cent against an increasingly gloomy backdrop for future interest rate cuts, which also weighed on utilities and consumer discretionary plays.

The defensive consumer staples sector was the best performer, with a slump of 0.2 per cent acting as a morbid highlight in a grim day for the local market.

The Australian dollar is buying 64.82 US cents, down from 65.23 US cents on Monday at 5pm.

Looking ahead, the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases local wage price index data on Wednesday, ahead of US Federal Open Market Committee minutes later in the week, and the return of US jobs data on Friday.

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 lost 167.3 points, or 1.94 per cent, to 8,469.1

The broader All Ordinaries faded fell points, or 1.99 per cent, to 8,738.3

The NZX 50 Lost -7.05 points (-0.05%) to 13335.77

Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):

Medibank Private Limited

Nuix Limited

Ridley Corporation Limited

[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:

U.S. stocks ended lower. The DJIA declined 1.1% to 46,091.74, the S&P 500 dropped 0.8% to 6,617.32 and the Nasdaq declined 1.2% to 22,432.85.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Medtronic PLC MDT surging 4.69%, Warner Bros. Discovery Inc WBD jumped 4.18%, and Valero Energy Corp VLO lifted 3.94%.

The biggest decliners were The Home Depot Inc HD which dropped 6.02%, Western Digital Corp WDC fell 5.89%, and Micron Technology Inc MU lost 5.58%.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.8% to 3,939.81 and the Shenzhen Composite Index fell 1% to 2,485.79.

Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 1.7% to 25,930.03.

Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average slipped 3.2% to 48,702.98.

India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX dropped 0.3% to 84,673.02.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index declined 1.3% to 9,552.30. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX slipped 1.7% to 23,180.53, and the France's CAC 40 dropped 1.9% to 7,967.93