Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket rose steadily on Thursday despite results from Air New Zealand and Precinct Properties underwhelming investors. The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 1.07% or 145.131 points to 13,670.71 after 35.7 million shares, worth $133.2 million, were traded. The S&P/NZX 20 index was up 1.07%, closing at 7755.80 points, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 13,239.72 after rising 1.11%. There were 80 gainers on the main board and 54 decliners.
On the main board, Air NZ was the key result, with the company underperforming against its own expectations, reporting a $59m pre-tax loss in its half-year result. The company cited engine maintenance delays, sluggish domestic demand, increasing aviation system costs and a weaker NZ dollar as reasons behind the decline. Air NZ’s share price fell 1.74% or 1c to 56c after 6.2 million shares worth $3.5m was traded.
Elsewhere Precinct Properties suffered a bottom-line profit drop after devaluations. Precinct Properties’ net profit after tax fell from $9.2m in the December 2024 half-year to $2.9m, but the company is still advancing its 56-level Downtown Carpark redevelopment near Auckland’s waterfront. Precinct Properties’ share price fell 3.06% or 3c to $1.11.
Sky Television reported a strong $19.3m after-tax underlying profit, with its revenue boosted by its acquisition of Three (TV3). However, the company said economic conditions “remain challenging in the near term”, reporting a further drop in the number of Sky Box and Neon customers. Sky Television’s share price rallied 3.38% or 11c to $3.36.
The wider NZ sharemarket was bolstered by its biggest inhabitant Fisher & Paykel Healthcare. Its shares lifted 2.24% or 90c to $41 on turnover worth $17m. Summerset Group also had a strong day ahead of its result on Friday, rallying 4.18% or 43c to $10.71. Ryman Healthcare followed suit, rallying 5.08% or 12c to $2.48.
Companies set to report on Friday include Port of Tauranga, Channel Infrastructure and Vista Group.
Nvidia on Wednesday reported blockbuster quarterly results that blew past Wall Street expectations, posting record revenue of US$68.1 billion as insatiable demand for its artificial intelligence chips showed no sign of cooling. The figures, up 73% from a year ago and well above the US$65.7b analysts had forecast, sent a powerful signal that the technology buildout dominated by Nvidia that underpins the global AI boom remains in full swing. Despite increased volatility around AI on Wall Street, Nvidia shares are up by more than 50% over the past year, although just 2.2% year to date, before the latest earnings.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 6 points higher at 9146.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has broken multiple records as it nears the end of a solid earnings season that delivered outsized returns for bigger miners, banks and consumer staples stocks.
The S&P/ASX200 gained 47 points on Thursday, up 0.51 per cent, to 9,175.3, as the broader All Ordinaries rose 49.7 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 9,408.7.
Both indices notched fresh intraday peaks during the session and ended the day at their highest-ever closing values, with an extra $85 billion added to the top-500's combined value in February, taking it to $3.2 trillion.
"Financials are up nine per cent for the month and raw materials up almost eight per cent, so you've got those two big locomotives of the Australian stock market really chiming in," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore told AAP.
"When you look at where the ASX 200 sits in the first two months of this year, we're doing better than the US, we're doing better than France, Canada, Hong Kong, China, and it's not often we get to say that."
Nine of 11 local sectors ended the session higher, with IT stocks up more than five per cent and tracking with a strong Wall Street lead after chipmaker Nvidia surged after another blockbuster quarter.
Basic materials did a lot of heavy lifting, rising one per cent as BHP surged to a record high $57.75, a fourth record close in as many days.
Rio Tinto rocketed 3.7 per cent to $168.62, roughly $1.20 short of its own personal best.
Strong commodity prices, particularly for industrial metals, have been turbocharging miners in 2026.
Gold stocks were mixed but mostly in the red, despite the precious metal edging higher during the session to $US5,200 ($A7,293) an ounce.??
Gold is up roughly 20 per cent in 2026, but pulled back in early February after soaring more than 60 per cent in 2025.
The heavyweight financials sector, which accounts for roughly a third of the local stock market's value, edged slightly lower on Thursday, with three of the big four banks slipping from recent strength.
Energy stocks underperformed the broader market, the sector dipping 1.5 per cent as weaker coal prices weighed on Yancoal's interim result, prompting investors to shrug off its record production and sell it down by more than eight per cent.
Uranium stocks were also under selling pressure after an earnings miss from Boss Energy, while fossil fuel giants Woodside and Santos slumped 0.9 per cent or more as LNG futures dipped.
Health care stocks continued to rebound, up 1.6 per cent, with help from strong first half results from Ramsay Health Care, but the segment remains down by roughly 32 per cent on 12 months before, following a year marred by US trade and vaccine policy shifts.
Consumer staples stocks have charged a massive 7.4 per cent in two sessions since Woolworths' stellar half-year earnings report dropped on Wednesday, the grocery giant surging twice as much.
Coles will hand down its results for the half on Friday, along with Harvey Norman, Star Entertainment, TPG Telecom, Pexa and Bapcor.
The Australian dollar is buying 71.34 US cents, up from 71.09 US cents at 5pm on Thursday and creeping higher since January inflation came in hotter-than-expected, raising the odds of more interest rate hikes.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 gained 47 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 9,175.3
The broader All Ordinaries rose 49.7 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 9,408.7
The NZX 50 Lost -17.66 points (-0.13%) to 13653.05
Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):
AMP Limited
Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure Limited
Ingenia Communities Group
LendLease Group
Orora Limited
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA was unchanged at 49,499.20, the S&P 500 declined 0.5% to 6,908.86 and the Nasdaq fell 1.2% to 22,878.38.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Paramount Skydance Corp PSKY surging 10.04%, GoDaddy Inc GDDY jumped 8.95%, and JM Smucker Co SJM lifted 8.82%.
The biggest decliners were Universal Health Services Inc UHS which dropped 11.44%, EMCOR Group Inc EME fell 6.94%, and Corning Inc GLW lost 6.30%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed mixed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was unchanged at 4,146.63 and the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 0.3% to 2,755.22.
Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index slipped 1.4% to 26,381.02.
Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average climbed 0.3% to 58,753.39.
India shares ended flat. The BSE SENSEX was unchanged at 82,248.61.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.4% to 10,846.70. In Europe, shares closed higher. The Germany's DAX added 0.4% to 25,289.02, and the France's CAC 40 climbed 0.7% to 8,620.93
