Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket took its lead from a weaker Wall Street to end lower on Friday. The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed down 133.41 points or 0.98% at 13,464.46, with 34.3 million shares worth $130.2m trading. There were 106 falls and 34 rises on the main board. Most other markets in the Asia-Pacific region were also softer after United States stocks had their worst day in a month, largely due to selling in technology stocks. The ongoing debate on whether AI-related stocks had run too hard, too fast, was affecting sentiment.
Transport and logistics firm Mainfreight gave up some of its post-result gains, ending 92c or 1.34% down at $67.58, but was still up 16% over the week after the market responded to the company's positive earnings outlook.
Intratil, which also reported last week, dropped 19c to $11.78.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, the market’s biggest stock, finished 39c down at $37.69. Meridian Energy, which holds an investor day on Thursday, fell 5c to $5.83. Elsewhere, transport technology company Eroad lost 13c, or 8%, to $1.50, while cinema software firm Vista dropped 12c to $2.58.
Among the smaller stocks, honey exporter Comvita closed 6.5c down at 53c after an 80c-a-share scheme of arrangement from Florenz failed to garner enough support from shareholders. The loss-making Comvita said it had notified its banking syndicate to request their further support to provide time to recapitalise the business.
A slew of annual and first-half results are due this week, starting with Sanford (full year) and Serko (half year) on Tuesday. There are also several annual meetings, among them for Precinct, KMD Brands, and a2 Milk.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 4 points lower at 8619.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: The Australian share market has closed at an almost four-month low after suffering its worst day in 10 weeks amid a global pullback in risk assets.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Friday dropped 118.9 points, or 1.36 per cent, to 8,634.5, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 127.5 points, or 1.41 per cent, to 8,9087.
It was the fourth day of declines in a row for the ASX200, as well as its third straight week of losses.
It dropped 1.54 per cent for the week, its worst weekly performance since a 3.9 per cent loss for the first week of April.
AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said hawkish comments by Federal Reserve officials overnight had dialled back expectations that the Fed would cut rates in December.
Interest rate markets are pricing in just 50/50 odds of a December 10 rate cut, down from a 95 per cent implied probability a month ago, according to CME FedWatch.
Markets also reacted to an unwinding of the AI trade, which was losing momentum amid concerns valuations were too rich, Capital.com analyst Kyle Rodda said.
Nine of the ASX's 11 sectors finished lower, with energy and consumer staples up marginally.
The tech sector was by far the biggest loser, losing 4.4 per cent in its worst day in seven months.
Megaport fell 9.6 pre cent, Hub 24 retreated 8.0 per cent and Life360 fell 6.7 per cent, taking its losses for the week to more than 20 per cent.
The big four banks finished deep in the red, with CBA dropping 1.8 per cent to a seven-month low of $157.30, ANZ falling 2.6 per cent to $35.99, Westpac subtracting 1.6 per cent to $38.81, and NAB losing 1.7 per cent to $41.48.
Commonwealth Bank shares are down 18 per cent from their record high of $192 in June, leaving them up just 2.6 per cent for 2025.
The heavyweight mining sector also lost ground, with BHP falling 1.3 per cent to $42.75, Fortescue dropping 1.0 per cent to $20.23, and Rio Tinto subtracting 1.4 per cent to $13.85.
Goldminers did not do any better even as the precious metal changed hands for about $US4,196 an ounce, up slightly from Thursday.
Northern Star dropped 1.9 per cent, Evolution retreated 2.4 per cent and Westgold fell 4.9 per cent.
A handful of names finished in the green, including lithium miners Pilbara and Liontown, which climbed 1.1 and 1.0 per cent, respectively, and Santos, which added 1.2 per cent.
The ASX200 has fallen more than five per cent in the three-and-a-half weeks since it hit a record high of 9,094 on October 21.
It is still up 5.8 per cent since the start of 2025, but down 2.4 per cent this quarter.
The Australian dollar was buying 65.37 US cents, from 65.57 US cents at 5pm on Thursday.
Cryptocurrencies were also struggling, with bitcoin falling below $US99,000 for the first time since April.
Close to 5pm AEDT, the original cryptocurrency was changing hands for $US97,300 ($A148,800), down 4.7 per cent in the past 24 hours.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 lost 118.9 points, or 1.36 per cent, to 8,634.5
The broader All Ordinaries fell 127.5 points, or 1.41 per cent, to 8,907
The NZX 50 added 8.28 points (0.06%) to 13472.74
Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):
Endeavour Group Limited
McMillan Shakespeare Limited
Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):
Macquarie Group Limited
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA dropped 0.7% to 47,147.48, the S&P 500 fell 0.1% to 6,734.11 and the Nasdaq rose 0.1% to 22,900.59.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were DoorDash Inc DASH surging 6.02%, Micron Technology Inc MU jumped 4.17%, and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc WBD lifted 4.02%.
The biggest decliners were Solstice Advanced Materials Inc SOLS which dropped 4.77%, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co BMY fell 4.07%, and PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL lost 3.86%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 1% to 3,990.49 and the Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 1.4% to 2,511.55.
Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index declined 1.8% to 26,572.46.
Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.8% to 50,376.53.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX lifted 0.1% to 84,562.78.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index dropped 1.1% to 9,698.37. In Europe, shares closed mixed. The Germany's DAX slipped 0.7% to 23,876.55, and the France's CAC 40 was unchanged at 8,170.09
