Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket quickly recovered from the news of rising inflation and made a comfortable 0.5% gain to start the new trading week. The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell to a Monday morning low of 13,246.23 points when Stats NZ announced an inflation rate of 3% for the year ending September, up from 2.7% in the 12 months to the June quarter. But with economists expecting the inflation increase to be temporary, the index rebounded in the afternoon and closed at 13,344.96, up 55.75 points or 0.42%. There were 77 gainers and 64 decliners on the main board with 35.4 million shares worth $129.5m changing hands.
The Consumers Price Index (CPI) for the September quarter was led by power prices up 11% and local authority rates up 8.8%, creating the highest inflation rate since 3.3% in the June quarter last year. ASB said the CPI has hit the top of the Reserve Bank of NZ’s (RBNZ) target again, an unhelpful milestone that has nonetheless been long expected and still hasn't stopped the bank from cutting the official cash rate 75 basis points so far in the second half of this year ANZ said the CPI data certainly doesn’t present any challenge to the bank’s August forecast of underlying inflation slowing. “We continue to expect a 25bp cut in (late) November. Clearly, the high-frequency data and inflation expectations are a must-watch between now and the November monetary policy statement.”
Utilities investor Infratil was down 6c to $12.37 after telling the market it was buying Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust’s 4.92% shareholding in Contact for $437.7m or $8.95 a share – made up of $218.8m in cash and $17.6m or $218.8m worth of new Infratil shares, priced at $12.43 a share. Infratil’s stake in Contact, which was up 10c to $9.15, will increase from 9.4% to 14.32% following Contact’s merger with Manawa Energy, in which Infratil had a 51% shareholding. For that transaction, Infratil sold its Manawa stake for $186m and the 9.4% shareholding in Contact.
Elsewhere in the energy sector, Mercury increased 16c or 2.47% to $6.65. Eroad, which is shifting its growth plans from the challenging North American market to Australasia, fell a further 8c or 4.26% to $1.80 after slumping $1 or 34.7% on Friday. Briscoe Group was down 16c or 3.08% to $5.04; Vista Group eased 8c or 2.91% to $2.67; Third Age Health declined 24c or 5.16% to $4.41; Colonial Motor decreased 20c or 2.53% to $7.70; and Blackpearl was down 4.5c or 3.88% to $1.115. Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was up 25c to $35.70; Freightways collected 11c to $13.26; Gentrack gained 33c or 3.63% to $9.43; Scott Technology increased 22c or 8.66% to $2.76; Ryman Healthcare added 6c or 2.19% to $2.80; and TradeWindow was up 2.5c or 7.04% to 38c.
Investore was down 4.56c or 3.56% to $1.22 after shareholders voted in favour of buying the 7ha Silverdale Retail Centre from its parent company Stride Property for $114m at an initial yield of 6.8%. Stride, declining 5c or 3.4% to $1.42, will continue to manage the centre. The fully leased, open-air centre just north of Auckland city has an annual net income of $7.8m and provides Investore with 32 new tenants in its portfolio, including Chemist Warehouse, Noel Leeming and Macpac. The centre has a total of 39 tenants.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 37 points higher at 9057.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has finished higher after a weak start, with a late rally for the banks counterbalancing a mining sector slump.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 gained 36.6 points on Monday, up 0.41 per cent to 9,031.9 as the broader All Ordinaries rose 31.4 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 9,324.6.
The positive finish came after a morning dip as gold miners sold off, but a surge in financial stocks after Asian markets opened was enough to help the top-200 close above 9000 points for the third time in history.
"So it's a rotation out of mining stocks, after that sector has outperformed and run pretty hard," Pepperstone head of research Chris Weston told AAP.
"And we're seeing a bit of love back into the financials again and some of the REIT (real estate investment trust) stocks."
Nine of 11 local sectors ended the day higher, led by financials (+1.5 per cent), real estate (+1.1 per cent) and IT stocks (+0.9 per cent).
Gold miners sold off dramatically after leading the raw materials segment to multiple records the week before, as the spot price eased to $US4,259 ($A6,548) an ounce from nearly $US4,380.
Shares in Northern Star, Evolution and Newmont tumbled between 3.6 per cent and 5.7 per cent.
BHP was sluggish, down 1.1 per cent as iron ore prices continued to consolidate around $US105 a tonne, while competitors Fortescue and Rio Tinto traded flat.
Rare earths and critical minerals miners were mixed ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Mr Albanese is expected to request a price floor on critical minerals to ensure the viability of new projects.
Lynas Rare Earths rallied more than six per cent, Iluka Resources swung a similar amount in the opposite direction, and lithium plays Pilbara Minerals and Liontown edged higher.
Commonwealth Bank surged more than two per cent to $172.70, leading the big four higher and helping the financials sector to its highest-ever close at a combined value of almost $950 billion.
Elsewhere in the segment, major insurers were strong and buy-now, pay later provider Zip Co gained 4.5 per cent after upgrading its projected US transaction values.
Consumer discretionary stocks edged 0.1 per cent higher despite shares in Autobarn owner Bapcor nosediving to 10-year lows after revealing "poor operational practices" would cut a $12 million hole in its bottom line.
Energy stocks pushed 0.4 per cent higher with decent performances in oil, gas and coal producers, while uranium plays sold off.
Deep Yellow was the top-200's worst performer, tanking almost 19 per cent after announcing the sudden departure of boss John Borsho.
The Australian dollar is buying 65.07 US cents, up from 64.76 US cents on Friday at 5pm, as fears softened around US-China trade stoush over rare earths and key technology exports.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 rose 36.6 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 9,031.9
The broader All Ordinaries gained 31.4 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 9,324.6
The NZX 50 Lost -20.09 points (-0.15%) to 13324.87
Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):
Audinate Group limited
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited
Cleanaway Waste Management Limited
Judo Capital Holdings Limited
MyState Limited
Region Group
Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):
GQG Partners Inc.
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA added 1.1% to 46,706.58, the S&P 500 lifted 1.1% to 6,735.13 and the Nasdaq rose 1.4% to 22,990.54.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Expand Energy Corp EXE surging 6.07%, Super Micro Computer Inc SMCI jumped 5.48%, and The Trade Desk Inc TTD lifted 5.03%.
The biggest decliners were AppLovin Corp APP which dropped 5.53%, Seagate Technology Holdings PLC STX fell 4.88%, and Oracle Corp ORCL lost 4.86%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 0.6% to 3,863.89 and the Shenzhen Composite Index climbed 1% to 2,420.44.
Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 2.4% to 25,858.83.
Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average climbed 3.4% to 49,185.50.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX rose 0.5% to 84,363.37.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index lifted 0.5% to 9,403.57. In Europe, shares closed higher. The Germany's DAX gained 1.8% to 24,258.80, and the France's CAC 40 lifted 0.4% to 8,206.07
