Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket closed down on Thursday, driven by a fall in the gentailers and other larger listed companies. However, results from Ryman Healthcare and Tower Insurance were well received by investors. The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed down 0.96% or 129.81 points at 13,432.20 after 39.3 million shares worth $144m were traded. The S&P/NZX 20 index was down 1.03%, closing at 7,674.25 points, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 12,801.98 after falling 1.11%. There were 46 gainers on the main board and 96 decliners.
Ryman Healthcare reported its half-year result to Sept 30, 2025, reporting a $45.1m loss after lower revaluations. Ryman’s share price lifted 2.10% or 6c to $2.92 after 1.1m shares changed hands, with turnover of $3.3m.
Tower Insurance reported its half-year result, with its net profit for the year to September 30 rising to $83.7m. Tower’s share price lifted 1.30% or 2c to $1.94.
Despite the positive movements, the majority of large listers brought the share market down, particularly the gentailers. Meridian Energy fell 1.90% or 11c to $5.67, Contact Energy fell 1.53% or 15c to $9.63, and Genesis Energy fell 1.22% or 3c to $2.43. Fisher and Paykel Healthcare gave back some of the gains it made following its half-year result on Wednesday, with its share price falling 1.69% or 65c to $37.75 on turnover worth $16.7m.
Fletcher Building continued its downward streak, falling 1.20% or 4c to $3.28 after 2.3m shares changed hands, with turnover of $7.7m. Meanwhile, Ebos Group dropped 2.27% or 65c to $27.95 on turnover worth $19.2m.
U.S. markets were closed Thursday for Thanksgiving, but Wednesday’s session saw a pre-holiday rally on rate-cut hopes.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 26 points lower at 8603.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: A promising start has faded to a lacklustre finish for Australia's stock market as energy stocks tumbled and profit-taking weighed on miners.
The S&P/ASX200 rose 10.8 points on Thursday, or 0.13 per cent, to 8,617.3, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 12.7 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 8,912.
"Early momentum carried the benchmark to an intraday and near two-week high of 8,649.3, but the move quickly lost steam," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.
"With little follow-through buying interest, the index slipped 32 points from the peak, leaving it with only modest gains this afternoon to show for its earlier efforts."
Only eight local sectors ended the day clearly higher, as energy and materials stocks fell behind, while consumer staples stocks traded close to flat.
Financials ground 0.1 per cent higher with a lumbering performance from the big four banks, as CBA, Westpac and NAB edged upward and ANZ fell behind.
Big insurers weighed on the segment, as Suncorp flagged 10,000 fresh claims from Queensland's recent storms and QBE sold off after a trading update.
Raw materials stocks slipped 0.2 per cent as major miners and lithium stocks ran into profit-taking, while rare earths plays were under continued pressure.
Gold stocks rallied despite the precious metal rolling over from hitting a two-week high on Wednesday to trade at $US4,146 (A$6,345) an ounce.
The so-called digital gold of Bitcoin might have found a bottom, nudging above $US90,000 ($A137,725) for the first time in a week as questions about its role and correlation with other assets linger in the background.
A 1.3 per cent dip in energy stocks came as oil prices eased on rising expectations of a Russia-Ukraine peace deal between Russia, and as coal producers and uranium plays sold off.
Bunnings owner Wesfarmers edged higher in a mixed day for consumer discretionaries, as Temple and Webster rebounded 4.8 per cent from Wednesday's post-trading-update bloodbath, which drained almost a third of the company's value.
Plumbing materials supplier Reece helped lift the industrials sector, gaining four per cent after flagging an on-market buyback.
Ryman Healthcare jumped 2.8 per cent after the Christchurch-based aged care provider posted positive cashflow for the half the first time in a decade, while a net profit remained elusive.
The health care sector was the third-best performing group, rising 0.7 per cent and up more than 4.3 per cent from the lows that followed CSL's sharp October sell-off.
"The ASX health care sector has been in a world of hurt," Mr Sycamore told AAP.
"But the hold of support, better price action and some of the improving reports we've seen from the likes of Ramsey and such might give traders enough reasons to dip their toe in and take advantage of the fall."
Another segment extending its recovery from recent weakness was Australian tech, which outperformed the market with a more than two per cent surge.
Droneshield was less convincing after rocketing 25 per cent higher in five sessions, before tumbling more than seven per cent on Thursday as investors opted to profit from its recent rebound.
The Australian dollar is buying 65.34 US cents, up from 65.06 on Wednesday at 5pm, as narrowing bets on a December US interest rate cut weigh on the greenback.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 rose 10.8 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 8,617.3
The broader All Ordinaries gained 12.7 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 8,912
The NZX 50 added 13.13 points (0.10%) to 13445.33
Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):
Centuria Capital Group
IperionX Limited
Myer Holdings Limited
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA climbed 0.7% to 47,427.12, the S&P 500 lifted 0.7% to 6,812.61 and the Nasdaq gained 0.8% to 23,214.69.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were NVIDIA Corp NVDA surging 1.50%, Amazon.com Inc AMZN jumped -0.14%, and Apple Inc AAPL lifted 0.58%.
The biggest decliners were NVIDIA Corp NVDA which dropped 1.50%, Amazon.com Inc AMZN fell 0.14%, and Apple Inc AAPL lost 0.58%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed mixed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.3% to 3,875.26 and the Shenzhen Composite Index fell 0.1% to 2,430.54.
Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 0.1% to 25,945.93.
Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average added 1.2% to 50,167.10.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX gained 0.1% to 85,720.38.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished flat. The FTSE 100 Index was unchanged at 9,693.93. In Europe, shares closed mixed. The Germany's DAX rose 0.2% to 23,767.96, and the France's CAC 40 was unchanged at 8,099.47
