Market Announcements
Market Summary
A rally in medical supplies distributor Ebos, and gains in a handful of other market leaders, helped the sharemarket claw back all the ground lost after this week’s poor growth data on heavy turnover.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index ended at 13,231.66, up 111.63 points or 0.85%, with 131 million shares, worth $643.6m trading.
There were 81 rises and 57 falls on the main board.
The benchmark index dropped by 0.8% on Thursday after data showed New Zealand’s gross domestic product fell by a worse-than-expected 0.9% in the June quarter.
This week’s rate cut from the US Federal Reserve, plus the prospects of a more aggressive easing stance from the Reserve Bank of NZ (RBNZ), made for a better backdrop for equities.
OCR cut being factored in
Markets are starting to price in a bigger-than-expected 50-basis-point cut in the RBNZ’s official cash rate, which would be a boon for equities.
Ebos gains
Ebos gained $1.24 or 4.3% to end at $29.86 in anticipation of the stock entering the influential S&P/ASX200 Index on Monday.
The market was also supported by gains in other big cap stocks, Infratil, up 18c at $12.34, F&P Healthcare up 84c at $38.32, Auckland Airport up 15c at $7.85 and Mainfreight, up $1.57 or 2.5% at $64.18.
Freightways, one of the few companies to report strong earnings in the last reporting season, gained 59c or 4.6% to $13.39.
Channel Infrastructure, whose market cap now exceeds $1 billion, gained 4c to $2.48. On the downside, Sky TV fell 16c to $3.10 and Restaurant Brands dropped 11c to $2.83. Mercury NZ, which held its annual meeting today, fell by 16c or 2.4% to $6.49.
Port seeks minister's intervention
Port of Tauranga dropped 11c to $7.19. The company, which operates NZ’s biggest port, today requested that its Stella Passage development resource consent application be referred by the Minister for Infrastructure, Todd McLay, to the fast-track consenting process.
Steel and Tube’s share price continued to struggle, losing 3.4c to 65.5c.
The steel distributor, with its high exposure to a weak economy, reported a $23.37m loss last month and a 20% decline in sales revenue to $385.4m.
High hopes for Fonterra
Looking ahead, investors have high hopes for Fonterra, which reports its annual result on Thursday.
In its latest guidance, Fonterra lifted the 2024/25 season forecast Farmgate Milk Price from $10 per kgMS to $10.15 per kgMS.
The co-op is forecasting earnings of 65-75 cents per share.
Fonterra is in the throes of selling its consumer and associated businesses to France’s Lactalis for $4.22b.
The sale is expected to provide a $2 per share capital return to Fonterra shareholders.
Source: BusinessDesk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 31 points higher at 8834.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: A late bounce for Australia's share market has not been enough to break September's pullback as the bourse notched a third-straight losing week.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 rose 28.3 points on Friday, or 0.32 per cent, to 8,773.5, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 32.6 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 9,063.5.
The post-earnings season dip indicated global or market factors - rather than fundamentals - had pushed local shares to new highs, Capital.com market analyst Kyle Rodda said.
"The earnings story clearly showed that fundamentally the market isn't that strong," he told AAP.
"Nevertheless, there's flow going into equities and there's reason to buy equities ... we're just lacking a bit of an impetus on the local market to rise higher."
The Commonwealth Bank led three of the big four banks and the wider financials sector higher, as nine of 11 investment groupings finished in the green.
For the week, eight local segments ended lower, led by a 3.6 per cent tumble in energy stocks largely due to Santos tanking on Thursday after it was jilted by a takeover suitor.
The technology, consumer discretionary and utilities sectors carved out gains across the five sessions.
Raw materials faded on Friday and gave up 1.8 per cent for the week as group heavyweight BHP tumbled more than three per cent after it cut hundreds of jobs and mothballed a Queensland coal mine.
Gold miners finished the week on a high note, with Evolution Mining rallying 3.2 per cent and Northern Star up 1.2 per cent, as the precious metal hovered about $US3,650 ($A5,535) an ounce.
Gold hit a new all-time high of $US3,707.65 on Wednesday night as the US Federal Reserve confirmed an interest rate cut and left the door open to several more in 2025.
Health care's 0.9 per cent bounce indicated some interest from dip-buyers as the sector clocked five straight weeks of losses, which have wiped 15 per cent of its value.
Telix Pharmaceuticals was among the top 200's best performers on Friday, surging 6.4 per cent to $14.53 after Citi gave it a "buy" rating and touted its prostate cancer treatment's potential.
Consumer discretionary stocks performed well over the week, buoyed by a 4.1 per cent rally in JB Hi-Fi to $118.94.
At the other end of the table was Rebel Sport owner Super Retail, which has tumbled 3.9 per cent since it sacked chief executive Anthony Heraghty for denying an alleged relationship with the company's former human resources head.
The Australian dollar is buying 65.95 US cents, down from 66.22 US cents on Thursday at 5pm, as the greenback reclaimed ground against major currencies after recent weakness.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 rose 28.3 points on Friday, or 0.32 per cent, to 8,773.5
The broader All Ordinaries gained 32.6 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 9,063.5
The NZX 50 Lost -42.64 points (-0.32%) to 13189.02
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA climbed 0.4% to 46,315.27, the S&P 500 lifted 0.5% to 6,664.36 and the Nasdaq added 0.7% to 22,631.48.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Paramount Skydance Corp PSKY surging 5.85%, Eversource Energy ES jumped 4.88%, and Newmont Corp NEM lifted 4.34%.
The biggest decliners were DexCom Inc DXCM which dropped 10.99%, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp CTSH fell 4.73%, and Humana Inc HUM lost 4.61%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.3% to 3,820.09 and the Shenzhen Composite Index declined 0.3% to 2,472.63.
Hong Kong shares ended flat. The benchmark Hang Seng Index was unchanged at 26,545.10.
Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.6% to 45,045.81.
India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX fell 0.5% to 82,626.23.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.1% to 9,216.67. In Europe, shares closed mixed. The Germany's DAX slipped 0.1% to 23,639.41, and the France's CAC 40 was unchanged at 7,853.59
