Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket lifted marginally after a quiet day yesterday, with retirement stocks benefiting from the lull. The S&P/NZX 50 Index lifted 0.19% or 24.81 points to 13,395.87 after 38.4 million shares, worth $152.9m, were traded. The S&P/NZX 20 index was up 0.08%, closing at 7,616.96 points, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 12,758.41 after rising 0.01%. There were 64 gainers on the main board and 75 decliners.
One category that did perform well was retirement stocks, with Ryman Healthcare and Summerset Group both rising. Ryman’s share price lifted 2.49% or 7c to $2.88 after 5.9m shares changed hands, with turnover of $17m. Shares in Summerset rose 3.21% or 38c to $12.20 on turnover worth $4.6m.
Mainfreight also rose, lifting 2.05% or $1.35 to $67.25. Vital Healthcare Property Trust traded in high volume, with 4.2m shares changing hands at $8.6m, although it was flat at close at $2.04.
Ebos Group continued its slide, dropping 2.22% or 62c to $27.25 after shares worth $14.7m were traded. Infratil also had a negative day, falling 1.22% or 14c to $11.32.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve elected to cut interest rates for the third straight time. The Fed is also planning to purchase US$40 billion (NZ$68.9b) a month in treasuries, or short-term, dated securities. The rate cut was expected, but stocks had been under pressure in recent days in part due to speculation that the Fed would combine Wednesday’s interest rate cut with commentary suggesting a pause to further easing in light of still-elevated inflation. But market watchers read Fed chair Jerome Powell’s emphasis on the job market during a press conference as a signal that the Fed could cut interest rates again in 2026.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 88 points higher at 8679.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Miners have led Australia's stock market higher, helping the bourse snap a three-session losing streak after a US interest rate cut sparked a rally in raw materials.
After spiking more than 80 points in early trade, the S&P/ASX200 closed 12.6 points higher on Thursday, up 0.15 per cent, to 8,592.
The broader All Ordinaries gained 9.3 points by the close, up 0.1 per cent, to 8,877.5.
An early rally sparked by cheaper US borrowing costs faded by the afternoon after an earnings miss from tech giant Oracle dragged on Nasdaq futures, draining the morning's optimism.
"Given now there's talk of a potential interest rate hike in Australia, investors will surely be positioning their portfolios and selling out of stocks that might suffer from rate increases here, rotating into sectors and stocks that likely benefit from this new macro shift," Moomoo market strategist Jessica Amir told AAP.
The backdrop would likely provide room to run for US companies, ASX-listed US-facing stocks, small caps, along with gold and silver in 2026, Ms Amir said.
"So it's probably not going to be a very good 12 months ahead for the Aussie share market, so that's why investors will be chasing outperformance," she said.
Raw materials charged 0.9 per cent higher, leading five of 11 sectors into the green, which also included decent performances from energy stocks, and real state trusts.
Gold stocks were broadly positive as the precious metal spiked early in the session before easing to $US4,212 ($A6,346) an ounce, while copper miners also caught a bid.
Evolution Mining and Newmont each lifted more than 0.8 per cent, while Northern Star faded 1.5 per cent and VanEck's gold miners ETF edged 0.6 per cent higher.
BHP, and Rio Tinto each jumped 1.3 per cent or more after weak economic data from China stokes hopes of future stimulus measures from Beijing.
Battery minerals were broadly weaker, with lithium miners running into profit taking after recent strength, while rare earths continued to fade from 2025's wild ride to record valuations.
Financials carved out a 0.3 per cent, as a 0.7 per cent slip in CBA shares to $152.74 counterbalanced a decent day for its big four competitors.
Westpac was the best of the bunch, up 1.3 per cent $38.26 as its leadership defended the bank's environmental record at its annual meeting.
Australia's tech sector dived as futures for its US counterpart pointed lower, tumbling 1.5 per cent by the close.
Healthcare stocks were also hammered, losing 1.1 per cent as CSL, Pro Medicus and ResMed each slipped between 1.6 per cent and 2.3 per cent.
Segment giant WiseTech fell 2.2 per cent, and Life360 gave up a similar amount, with the tracking app struggling to find dip buyers since plummeting more than 37 per cent from October's record highs.
Droneshield was the worst performer of the top 200, slipping more than six per cent after soaring 18 per cent in the previous two sessions.
Building materials manufacturer James Hardie outperformed the market, rising more than seven per cent.
However, its shares are worth just more than half as much as they were a year ago, in what has been disastrous 2025 for the company and a string of captains calls that sparked a shareholder exodus.
The Australian dollar is buying 66.35 US cents, down from 66.42 US cents on Wednesday afternoon after spiking to four-month highs overnight.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 rose 12.6 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 8,592
The broader All Ordinaries gained 9.3 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 8,877.5
The NZX 50 added 19.83 points (0.15%) to 13415.7
Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):
National Australia Bank Limited
Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):
Metcash Limited
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA climbed 1.3% to 48,704.01, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 6,901.00 and the Nasdaq declined 0.3% to 23,593.86.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Royal Caribbean Group RCL surging 7.42%, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd NCLH jumped 6.81%, and Visa Inc V lifted 6.11%.
The biggest decliners were Oracle Corp ORCL which dropped 10.95%, Robinhood Markets Inc HOOD fell 9.05%, and The Trade Desk Inc TTD lost 5.69%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.7% to 3,873.32 and the Shenzhen Composite Index declined 1.4% to 2,457.15.
Hong Kong shares ended flat. The benchmark Hang Seng Index was unchanged at 25,530.51.
Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average slipped 0.9% to 50,148.82.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX climbed 0.5% to 84,818.13.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index rose 0.5% to 9,703.16. In Europe, shares closed higher. The Germany's DAX added 0.7% to 24,294.61, and the France's CAC 40 gained 0.8% to 8,085.76
