Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket, unexpectedly, ignored strong moves offshore and fell more than 0.5%, with Infratil and a2 Milk taking a hit yesterday. The S&P/NZX 50 Index had a strong morning after Wall Street staged an impressive relief rally but dipped in the afternoon and closed at 12,825.87, down 86.24 points or 0.67% after reaching an intraday high of 12,979.43. There were 80 gainers and 48 decliners on the main board with 38.57 million shares worth $143.5 million changing hands.
Fletcher Building, unchanged at $2.95, had the highest individual trade worth $16.18m. Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had risen 1.98% to 8649.6 points at 6pm NZ time, and further afield, the Japanese Nikkei 225 had surged 4.64% to 53,433.7, and the Hong Kong Hang Seng was up 1.97% to 25,276.65.
Utilities investor Infratil declined 35c or 3% to $11.30; a2 Milk fell 40c or 3.46% to $11.15; and Meridian Energy, the second-biggest local stock by market capitalisation, was down 11c or 1.99% to $5.42.
All eyes will be on President Donald Trump’s address to the US nation, at 2pm NZ time Thursday, where he will give “an important update” on the war in Iran. The Brent Crude oil price fell to US$105.20 (NZ$183.36) a barrel, from US$112.80 the day before. The NZ dollar was trading at US57.38c against the American greenback and A83c against the Australian dollar. The US markets had one of their biggest one-day rallies in recent times. One US commentator said this surge was not driven by earnings reports or long-term economic shifts. Instead, it was triggered by a geopolitical narrative shift: growing optimism that tensions involving Iran could de-escalate. The scale of the move reflected relief – pure and simple. After weeks of uncertainty, investors suddenly saw a path, however tentative, towards stability. The US indices still had one of their worst quarters since 2022. The Dow decreased 3.6% in the first three months of this year; the S&P 500 declined 4.6%; and the Nasdaq fell 7.1%.
At home, Freightways rebounded 34c or 2.83% to $12.34; Gentrack increased 16c to $6.78; Skellerup was up 10c or 21.92% to $5.30; and Mainfreight added 61c to $58.40. Seeka bounced back with a gain of 21c to $4.69; Vulcan Steel improved 12c or 1.88% to $6.50; The Warehouse collected 1.5c or 2.27% to 67.5c; Michael Hill added 1.5c or 3.41% to 45.5c; and NZX was up 3c of 2.29% to $1.34.
Other gainers were Serko, adding 5c or 3.03% to $1.70; Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund increasing 15c or 1.83% to $8.35; and Blackpearl Group collecting 3c or 4% to 78c. Ebos Group was down 29c to $21.96; Ryman Healthcare decreased 5c or 2.36% to $2.07; Hallenstein Glasson shed 22c or 2.2% to $9.76; Comvita declined 3.5c or 5% to 66.5c; Kiwi Property eased 2c or 2.2% to 89c; and PGG Wrightson was down 6c or 2.78% to $2.10.
Radius Residential Care, up 1c or 2.74% to 37.5c, is buying the 90-bed Wellington Karori Village care home for $13.6m with settlement expected in late May. Argosy Property, down 2c or 1.77% to $1.11, has unconditionally sold the heritage building at 143 Lambton Quay in Wellington for $6m, in line with the expected March 31 valuation. Settlement is expected in May.
Property for Industry, shedding 7c or 3.14% to $2.16, has completed its $200m, 6.5-year bond offer with an interest rate of 5.35% a year. The bonds will be issued on April 13. Tourism Holdings, down 8c or 3.67% to $2.10, has completed the sale of its UK and Ireland business to Portugal-based recreational vehicle rental company Indie Campers for $8m.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 22 points higher at 8705.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has bounced sharply on optimism the US will wind down its military campaign against Iran, but doubts remain and aftershocks from the conflict are likely to linger.
The S&P/ASX200 soared by 190 points on Wednesday, up 2.24 per cent, to 8,671.8, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 201.7 points, or 2.32 per cent, to 8,885.6.
Reports the Trump administration plans to wrap up its campaign against Iran in the next two-to-three weeks have supported global equities, with investors keenly awaiting a special address from President Donald Trump slated for Thursday at midday Sydney time.
The top-200 is trading at its highest level for two weeks, while the All Ordinaries clawed back almost $60 billion of its former $3.2 trillion combined market value on Wednesday, with more than $320 billion wiped at the lowest point since the conflict began.
While the uptick was welcome, fund managers' portfolio rebalancing had played a crucial role kicking off the overnight lead from Wall Street, Capital.com senior market analyst Kyle Rodda said.
"This happens all the time in markets where a relatively benign story or information that is largely not new generates this really big move," Mr Rodda told AAP.
"Interest for the markets now is in this address to the nation from Trump, and it's anyone's guess what he will actually say, whether it's announcing a ground invasion, whether it's announcing mission accomplished or whatever else - we'll have to see."
Oil prices rebounded after dipping on Tuesday, with Brent crude trading at $US104.60 a barrel, up more than 43 per cent since the US and Israel began attacking Iran, but down from their recent peak near $US119.
Local energy stocks edged 0.5 per cent higher ahead of a rare national address from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to reportedly encourage Australians to conserve fuel as supplies dwindle.
Hopes of an end to the conflict and the potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz had investors dipping into mining stocks, which have been hammered since early March.
Basic materials surged almost five per cent with help from mega miners BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue, along with resurgent gold producers.
Gold itself edged slightly higher during the session to $US4,694 ($A6,971) an ounce, however an end to conflict could prove a double-edged sword for the precious metal, IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.
"On one hand, a lasting peace agreement would remove the geopolitical safe haven bid that supported prices in the run-up to the conflict," Mr Sycamore said.
"On the other hand, it would allow for lower oil prices and easing inflation fears, which would revive expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts later in 2026."
The dynamic, combined central bank demand, could leave the door open to further upside, but with a choppy path to get there, the analyst said.
The heavyweight financials sector charged 1.8 per cent higher, as Commonwealth Bank led its big four counterparts higher with a 2.5 per cent boost to $171.90.
A lift in investor confidence helped lift IT stocks (+3.5 per cent), consumer discretionaries (+1.8 per cent) and the health care sector (+1.5 per cent), while industrials gained 1.1 per cent as Qantas shares advanced to $8.67.
In company news, shares in casino group Star Entertainment rocketed 8.7 per cent higher to 12.5 cents after completing its exit from its stake in Brisbane's Queen's Wharf project.
The Australian dollar is buying 69.05 US cents, up from 68.69 US cents on Tuesday at 5pm, the Aussie lifting on a rosier outlook for global growth and expected commodity demand.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 gained 190 points, or 2.24 per cent, to 8,671.8.
The broader All Ordinaries lifted 201.7 points, or 2.32 per cent, to 8,885.6.
The NZX 50 added 49.06 points (0.38%) to 12874.93
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA climbed 0.5% to 46,565.74, the S&P 500 lifted 0.7% to 6,575.32 and the Nasdaq rose 1.2% to 21,840.95.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Western Digital Corp WDC surging 10.28%, SanDisk Corp SNDK jumped 8.99%, and Micron Technology Inc MU lifted 8.89%.
The biggest decliners were Nike Inc NKE which dropped 15.52%, Lamb Weston Holdings Inc LW fell 8.92%, and Texas Pacific Land Corp TPL lost 7.40%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.5% to 3,948.55 and the Shenzhen Composite Index added 1.7% to 2,577.23.
Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index climbed 2% to 25,294.03.
Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average lifted 5.2% to 53,739.68.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX rose 1.6% to 73,134.32.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index climbed 1.9% to 10,364.79. In Europe, shares closed higher. The Germany's DAX lifted 2.7% to 23,298.89, and the France's CAC 40 added 2.1% to 7,981.27
