Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket was steady again on Thursday as software company Eroad rallied after the Government’s announcement that all cars on NZ roads will soon make use of road user charges. On the main board, the S&P/NZX 50 Index closed up 0.05% or 6.94 points, rising to 12,887.10, after 45.7 million shares worth $120m changed hands. The S&P/NZX 20 index closed at 7,561.42 points, up just 0.06%, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 12,642.76, rising 0.09%. There were 76 gainers on the main board and 60 decliners.
Hamilton Hindin Greene investment adviser Jeremy Sullivan said it was a mildly positive day on the market. “Of course, we have an earnings season starting next week, so you tend to see volumes a little lighter as people await the company announcements and guidance, especially,” Sullivan said. “US markets were positive, even though India has been hit with a higher tariff level than initially quoted. Our interest rates are buoying the market more than geopolitical instability and tariffs.”
On the NZX, Eroad rallied by 26.42% after the Government unveiled a raft of changes to the country’s road user charges system in preparation for 3.5m light vehicles moving to the charges. As has previously been signalled, the current fuel excise duty is expected to be abolished in the coming years, with all vehicles moving to road user charges (RUCs). Eroad saw its share price lift 42c to $2.01 after 3.1m shares traded hands on turnover of $5.9m. “Obviously, they’re seen as a potential front-runner for being able to offer a solution in that area. Material uplift in volume and share price and their market cap would put them up as a NZX50 constituent as well, so the potential to eventually be included in NZX indices.”
Elsewhere, Radius Healthcare shares rose 3.90% to $0.40 on a high volume of 10.4m shares after it announced an upgrade to its projected underlying earnings before interest and tax. Sullivan said Radius doesn’t seem to be able to put a foot wrong at the moment, noting its share price rose 22% in July, 22% in June, and 25% in April.
Chorus also had another positive day, with its share price lifting 1.21% or 11c to $9.20. Contact Energy, meanwhile, fell 0.76% to $9.10 after turnover of $11.1m was traded.
US markets Wall Street stocks rose on Wednesday (US time), with Apple and most other large tech companies rallying as markets largely shrugged off United States President Donald Trump’s latest tariff hikes. Apple's stock surged by more than 5% after White House officials announced that the tech giant plans to invest an additional US$100 billion (NZ$167.9b) in capital spending in the US. Amazon and Google parent Alphabet were among the other large tech names that also rose. “By standing up and publicly announcing a domestic investment with President Trump, it reduces the likelihood of Trump imposing new tariff burdens on Apple,” Trump ordered an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods. The levy, which is expected to come into force in three weeks, is due to New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 30 points higher at 8849.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has edged lower a day after breaking all-time highs, but all's not lost as the bourse posted its second-highest close in history.
The S&P/ASX200 slipped 12.3 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 8,831.4, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 9.1 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 9102.
"Australian shares were muted on Thursday, slipping from a record high hit in the previous session as losses in financials weighed (-0.3 per cent), while investors remained cautious awaiting monetary policy decisions from central banks in Australia and the US in the near term," CommSec chief economist Ryan Felsman said.
NAB and CBA finished the day down roughly half a per cent, while ANZ and Westpac eked out modest gains.
Five of 11 local sectors closed in the red by the close.
Health care stocks were heavy, losing 1.2 per cent as CSL (-1.5 per cent), Sigma Healthcare (-1.0 per cent) and Resmed (-2.1 per cent) sold off.
Consumer discretionary stocks outperformed the broader market, gaining 0.9 per cent with strong performances from Bunnings owner Wesfarmers, up 0.7 per cent to $89.52, and gambling machine company Aristocrat Leisure, which gained 1.5 per cent to $71.38.
Australian IT stocks also showed strength, gaining 0.4 per cent after a strong lead from the US tech sector overnight.
Local miners were mixed, with large caps BHP, Fortescue and Rio Tinto edging lower as iron ore prices ran into resistance, but broader risk sentiment lifted gold prices, helping push local miners and the materials sector into the green.
Westgold Resources was the top-200's best performer with a 5.1 per cent rally, followed by financial service group AMP, which bounced 4.8 per cent after disappointing first-half earnings gave way to an optimistic second-half outlook from Swiss investment giant UBS.
At the other end of the leaderboard was bourse operator ASX Limited, which plummeted 8.6 per cent to $6.06 in its worst daily performance in more than 15 years.
The slump followed a takeover announcement tagging snafu involving TPG Telecom and TPG Capital - a private equity firm not listed on the local exchange - prompting a selloff that wiped more than five per cent from the telco's value.
A day later, TPG shares have only recovered 0.8 per cent to trade at $5.26.
The exchange operator is already facing an inquiry by the corporate watchdog into governance issues and its aging settlements system, and federal treasurer Jim Chalmers has expressed support for breaking up the operator's monopoly to let US giant Cboe Global Markets list companies in Australia.
Turning to energy stocks, trade was muted with a 0.2 per cent gain, tracking with a small uptick in the oil price following surprisingly robust US demand figures and potential Ukraine peace talks.
Coal producers showed continued strength, with Yancoal up 0.9 per cent and posting a fourth-straight session of gains.
On currencies, a higher-than-expected trade surplus helped the Aussie dollar push higher to 65.24 US cents, up from 64.88 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close.
ON THE ASX:
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Thursday lost 12.3 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 8,831.4
The broader All Ordinaries edged 9.1 points lower, or 0.10 per cent, to 9102
The NZX 50 Lost -18.12 points (-0.14%) to 12868.98
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA dropped 0.5% to 43,968.64, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1% to 6,340.00 and the Nasdaq climbed 0.3% to 21,242.70.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Insulet Corp PODD surging 9.47%, Becton Dickinson & Co BDX jumped 8.86%, and Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc ZBH lifted 7.99%.
The biggest decliners were Fortinet Inc FTNT which dropped 22.02%, Eli Lilly and Co LLY fell 14.14%, and Texas Pacific Land Corp TPL lost 8.75%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed mixed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.2% to 3,639.67 and the Shenzhen Composite Index fell 0.1% to 2,224.63.
Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 0.7% to 25,081.63.
Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average added 0.6% to 41,059.15.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX gained 0.1% to 80,623.26.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.7% to 9,100.77. In Europe, shares closed higher. The Germany's DAX gained 1.1% to 24,192.50, and the France's CAC 40 climbed 1% to 7,709.32
