Market Announcements
Market Summary
New Zealand stocks followed overseas trends to end lower Friday, but the major talking point of the day was a major sell-off in tech firm Eroad after it lost a US customer. The S&P/NZX 50 Index dropped 99.89 points, or 0.75%, to 13,289.21, with 40.6 million shares worth $169.6m trading. There were 56 rises and 88 falls on the main board. Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX200 was down by 0.8% at 8,995.30 in late trading after recently setting a new 52-week high. In the US, the main indices were all down on renewed US-China trade tensions.
Locally, market leader Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (FPH) dropped $1.02, or 2.8%, to $35.45, on turnover worth $14.7m. The talk of the day was Eroad, which specialises in technology used for the electronic automation of systems for collecting Road User Charges (RUC), among other things. The stock dropped by $1.00, or 34.7%, to $1.88 after the company made several announcements, including the departure of co-chief executive David Kenneson. Eroad said it would shift its focus towards Australia and NZ, away from a “challenging” North American market. The company expects to record an impairment to the carrying value of intangible assets related to the North American region of up to $150m.
Robotics firm Scott Technology, which rallied sharply after securing $44m in new contracts in the US and Brazil, returned to earth, dropping 40c to $2.54.
Takeover target manuka honey exporter Comvita fell 4c to 75.5c. A company called Florenz has put together a scheme of arrangement for the manuka honey exporter at 80c/share. Comvita said that it had become aware of media reports indicating that its founder, Alan Bougen, was representing a syndicate of shareholders who wished to veto the scheme. However, Comvita stated that no information on the supposed veto had been forthcoming.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 21 points lower at 8966.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has failed to hang on to record-breaking gains after worries about US financial stability and an ongoing trade stoush sent investors towards safe havens.
The S&P/ASX200 fell 73.1 points on Friday, down 0.81 per cent, to 8,995.3, as the broader All ordinaries dropped 82.7 points, or 0.88 per cent, to 9,293.2.
The convincing rejection came after the top 200 broke its intraday and closing records on Thursday, ultimately rounding out the week roughly 0.4 per cent higher.
"You always want to see these breaks sort of hold over, say, a 24- to 48-hour period, but here we are back to where we were yesterday morning," IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore told AAP.
The heavyweight financials sector dragged on the bourse, dropping 1.2 per cent after two US regional banks posted heavy loan-related drawdowns, fanning fears of a repeat of the 2023 regional banking crisis.
"You've got some little signs of credit market stress with the nightmare of the 2023 crisis being reawakened overnight, and it's not a particularly good look to finish the week," Mr Sycamore said.
"It's been just percolating away in the background for a while ... but it matters now because suddenly some of these banks are starting to come out saying, 'We've got some pretty dodgy credit on our book'."
While Australia's banks were unlikely to have direct exposure to such loans, Commonwealth Bank was the only big four player to edge higher, eking a 0.1 per cent lift as ANZ, NAB and Westpac lost between 0.5 and 0.8 per cent.
The broader sector was a sea of red, with major insurers QBE (-9.1 per cent), IAG (-6.2 per cent) and Suncorp (-4.3 per cent) selling off.
Energy stocks were hammered as oil prices plumbed five-month lows, with US-China trade tensions dragging on against a backdrop of oversupply from OPEC+ and planned talks to end the war in Ukraine.
Raw materials stocks managed to edge higher for a fourth straight record close as goldminers, Rio Tinto and Fortescue helped counterbalance weakness and profit-taking in other commodities.
Gold hit a fresh peak before the ASX open to trade at $US4,379 an ounce, buoyed by safe-haven inflows and narrowing bets on incoming US interest rate cuts.
Rare earths producers such as Iluka Resources and Lynas Rare Earths sold off after rallying most of the week on the back of China's flagged export controls, but pared most of their losses by the close.
Consumer staples outperformed the broader market with a modest 0.3 per cent lift, with Woolies and Treasury Wines shining.
Australia's tech sector continued to sell off, slipping 1.9 per cent on Friday and down almost five per cent in October, tracking with an uncharacteristic pullback on Wall Street's tech-heavy Nasdaq index in recent days.
Bitcoin remains under selling pressure after a wipeout a week earlier that slashed more than $US475 billion ($A734 billion) from the cryptocurrency sector's more than $US4.1 trillion value.
One Bitcoin is trading at $US108,320, shedding 14 per cent since hitting a record high above $US126,000 on October 6.
The Australian dollar is buying 64.76 US cents, down from 64.94 US cents on Thursday at 5pm.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 lost 73.1 points, or 0.81 per cent, to 8,995.3
The broader All Ordinaries rose 82.7 points, or 0.88 per cent, to 9,293.2
The NZX 50 Lost -8.72 points (-0.07%) to 13280.49
Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):
Tabcorp Holdings Limited
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA gained 0.5% to 46,190.61, the S&P 500 climbed 0.5% to 6,664.01 and the Nasdaq rose 0.5% to 22,679.98.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Kenvue Inc KVUE surging 8.36%, American Express Co AXP jumped 7.27%, and Gilead Sciences Inc GILD lifted 4.21%.
The biggest decliners were Newmont Corp NEM which dropped 7.63%, Oracle Corp ORCL fell 6.96%, and Vistra Corp VST lost 4.32%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 2% to 3,839.76 and the Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 2.7% to 2,396.92.
Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index declined 2.5% to 25,247.10.
Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.4% to 47,582.15.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX lifted 0.6% to 83,952.19.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.9% to 9,354.57. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX declined 1.8% to 23,830.99, and the France's CAC 40 dropped 0.2% to 8,174.20
