NZ Sharemarket Up Tuesday As Exporters Have Strong Day

Wine exporters had a strong day as the New Zealand sharemarket reached its highest level in more than five months yesterday, and the Reserve Bank of Australia kept its cash rate unchanged. The S&P/NZX 50 Index climbed to an intraday high of 13,438.83 before finishing on 13,426.13, up 65.54 points or 0.49%. There were 78 gainers and 51 decliners on the main board with 35.5 million shares worth $120m changing hands.

Delegat Group surged 52c or 14.29% to $4.16 after upgrading its full-year net profit guidance to $60m-$62m, from $50m-$55m. Delegat maintained its global sales forecast of 3.3m cases for the year. The company said it benefited from improved sales performance in the final quarter, lower US tariffs on shipments from February and favourable foreign exchange. Fellow exporter Foley Wines increased 3.5c or 7.87% to 48c.

Across the Tasman, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) left its cash rate at 4.35% after raising it at its previous three meetings. The bank said there remained heightened uncertainty about the outlook for domestic economic activity and inflation.  Global oil supply issues will take some time to resolve, maintaining upward pressure on global energy prices and inflation.  At the same time, a period of prolonged uncertainty may also cause growth to be lower in Australia’s major trading partners and in Australia, the bank said. The S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 0.42% at 8,876.60 points at 6pm NZ time.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new high after gaining 0.92% to 51,671.03 points; the S&P 500 increased 1.65% to 7,554.29; and the Nasdaq Composite had one of its best days this year, rising 3.07% to 26,683.94. SpaceX continued its climb, increasing 19.6% to US$192.50 (NZ$331.33) two days after listing.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 44c to $38.60; Auckland International Airport gained 13c to $8.57; Skellerup added 20c or 3.09% to $6.67; and SkyCity rebounded 4 or 8.25% to 52.5c Mainfreight decreased 90c to $65.10; Ebos Group declined 81c or 3.85% to $20.24; Freightways was down 20c to $13.20; and Tourism Holdings shed 7c or 2.57% to $2.65. Other decliners were Briscoe, down 15c or 3.13% to $4.64; a2 Milk, down 16c or 2.17% to $7.20; and Comvita, down 2.5c or 3.62% to 66.5c.

Meridian Energy was up 18c, or 3.01%, to $5.98 after receiving the Environment Court's backing to operate the large Waitaki Power Scheme in the South Island for another 35 years. Meridian retains the same storage, operating conditions, and generation capacity for the Waitaki scheme, which comprises six power stations and provides almost 30% of NZ’s installed hydro capacity. Contact gained 15c to $9.57 after reporting electricity and gas sales of 461GWh in May, up from 365GWh for the same month last year. At June 11, South Island controlled hydro storage was 120% of mean and North Island 149%. Contact’s unit generation cost, including acquired generation, was $37.11 per MWh in May, significantly lower than $49.26/MWh in the same month last year. Own generation cost was $24.31/MWh compared with $42.27/MWh for the same period last year.

Precinct Properties was up 1.5c $1.05 after reaching an agreement with Hong Kong-based private equity firm PAG to establish a new investment vehicle and sell 50% of its interest in the blue-chip PwC Tower in Auckland, with a headline price of $600m. Precinct will be the investment and asset manager for the new partnership. Precinct is also partnering with a Sydney-based contractor, Built, on early construction planning for the Downtown Carpark project, which is scheduled for completion by April next year. Infratil, up 10c to $15.05, has promoted chief financial officer Andrew Carroll to chief operating officer, with a focus on capital allocation priorities and execution. Matt Ross, Carroll’s deputy, becomes the chief financial officer. Transport and logistics software firm TradeWindow, unchanged at 17.4c, has confirmed Dewald van Rensburg as the new chief executive following the resignation of AJ Smith.

Source: Business Desk

Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 31 points lower at 8894.

- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has squared an early dip for an almost flat finish, after the Reserve Bank held the cash rate steady and flagged a data-dependent path ahead as it walks the tightrope between sticky inflation and idling economic growth.

The S&P/ASX200 edged 3.7 points higher on Tuesday, up 0.04 per cent, to 8,917.7, as the broader All Ordinaries rose 3.3 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 9,131.3.

While equities improved as RBA governor Michele Bullock gave her port-meeting address, the decision to hold did not constitute a dovish pivot, eToro analyst Josh Gilbert warned.

"The RBA has kept its tightening bias alive, making clear it is prepared to lift rates again if needed and saying it will do what is necessary to bring inflation back to target," Mr Gilbert said.

"Markets are not ruling that out either, with futures still pricing around a 55 per cent chance of another move later this year, a scenario that comes back into play if inflation proves stubborn and price pressures stay sticky."

Energy stocks outperformed the other sectors as oil prices stabilised as traders mulled the realities of the yet-to-be signed US-Iran peace deal, while the banks also offered support, pivoting into the green after the RBA decision.

Crude prices continued to hover at 14-week lows, on par with the early days of the US-Iran conflict, but local oil and gas giants Woodside and Santos managed to rebound from Monday's sell-off, while refinery operators Ampol and Viva also advanced.

Three of the big four banks ended the session clearly higher after a wobbly start to the session, while CommBank shares eked a modest gain as concerns around flagged tax reforms and their impact on an already cooling housing market weighed on Australia's biggest mortgage lender.

Mining stocks were broadly lower, as BHP pipped Monday's record close by less than 0.1 per cent, while Rio and Fortescue fell behind, counterbalancing a second-day rebound for gold stocks.

Battery minerals producers were also heavy, with PLS down 4.5 per cent and Liontown tumbling 8.5 per cent to the session's worst performance of the top-200.

Gold hovered near $US4,317 ($A6,123) an ounce, still significantly lower than where it has spent most of 2026.

In company news, logistics group Qube edged 0.2 per cent higher after its shareholders signed off on a $11.7 billion takeover bid by a consortium led by Macquarie Asset Management.

Karoon Energy shares slumped 12.5 per cent, compounding Monday's oil-led loss after its Gulf of Mexico Who Dat Joint Venture sharply downgraded its 2026 production guidance.

The Australian dollar is buying 70.55 US cents, down from 70.75 US cents on Monday at 5pm.

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 gained 3.7 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 8,917.7

The broader All Ordinaries rose by 3.3 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 9,131.3

The NZX 50 Lost -16.08 points (-0.12%) to 13410.05

Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):

Select Harvests Limited

[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:

U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA climbed 0.6% to 51,999.67, the S&P 500 slipped 0.6% to 7,511.35 and the Nasdaq declined 1.2% to 26,376.34.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Take-Two Interactive Software Inc TTWO surging 6.39%, Moderna Inc MRNA jumped 6.27%, and Western Digital Corp WDC lifted 4.25%.

The biggest decliners were Cboe Global Markets Inc CBOE which dropped 9.53%, Monolithic Power Systems Inc MPWR fell 9.31%, and Lumentum Holdings Inc LITE lost 8.54%.

Asia

Chinese shares closed mixed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.1% to 4,091.89 and the Shenzhen Composite Index climbed 1% to 2,817.80.

Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 1.4% to 24,493.95.

Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.1% to 69,404.50.

India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX rose 0.7% to 76,808.48.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index gained 0.6% to 10,494.21. In Europe, shares closed higher. The Germany's DAX climbed 0.1% to 24,910.41, and the France's CAC 40 lifted 0.8% to 8,447.27