Lister said he was still positive about the outlook for the New Zealand market, but it won’t be plain sailing. “It’s such an interesting time with the geopolitics, US mid-term elections and the election here. You are still going to see some ups and downs during the year.
“Investors are having to rethink where they want to put their money, and there’s been a rotation away from tech stocks and away from the US to Japan and Europe.”
Lister said the dual-listed banking stocks Westpac (down 92c, or 1.97%, to $45.83) and ANZ (down 54c to $43.36) will report later this week, and their results would be interesting.
“They tend to single out the performance of their New Zealand business and how the economy is going. We can learn a lot about the bank results and what is happening out there,” he said.
ANZ Research expects no change in the Official Cash Rate (OCR), currently at 2.25%, when the Reserve Bank of NZ (RBNZ) meets next week. But the OCR track will be followed closely.
ANZ said gross domestic product was stronger than the RBNZ expected in the third quarter and that fourth-quarter indicators have been solid.
Consumers price index (CPI) inflation unexpectedly lifted to sit outside the target band in the fourth quarter in a broad-based surprise. On the other hand, the housing and labour markets do not appear inflationary, suggesting the medium-term outlook remains on track.
“Relative to current market pricing, the Reserve Bank’s track is likely to be considerably less aggressive,” ANZ said.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a new high after gaining 0.04% to 50,135.87 points; the S&P 500 was up 0.47% to 6,964.82; and the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.9% to 23,238.67, led by Oracle up 9.64% to US$156.59 (NZ$259.31) and Nvidia up 2.5% to US$190.04.
At 6pm NZ time, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.18% to 8885.8 points; the Japanese Nikkei 225 had risen 2.23% to 57,618.29; and the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index had gained 0.54% to 27,173.55.
Local stocks
Market leader Fisher & Paykel Healthcare drove the local market higher after increasing 70c or 1.78% to $39.98 on trade worth $12.9m.
Mainfreight was up $1 to $65; Infratil collected 14c to $11.18; Port of Tauranga gained 13c to $8; Fletcher Building increased 8c or 2.19% to $3.73; Vulcan Steel rose 46c or 5.98% to $8.15; and Summerset added 12c to $11.25.Vista Group rebounded 7c or 3.68% to $1.97; CDL Investments increased 4.5c or 5.63% to 84.5c; and Pacific Edge rose 2c or 9.76% to 22.5c, having gained nearly 20% in the last two trading days.
Mercury Energy was down 12c or 1.86% to $6.34; Serko shed 6c or 2.35% to $2.49; SkyCity decreased 2c or 2.21% to 88.5c; Comvita declined 2.5c or 3.62% to 66.5c, and Freightways was down 5c to $14.95 after reaching an intraday low of $14.40.In the retail sector, Briscoe declined 19c or 3.85% to $4.74, and Hallenstein Glasson was down 13c to $10.
Carpet maker Bremworth was down 3c or 4% to 72c after telling the market it is lowering the expected return to shareholders in the scheme of arrangement with US flooring company Mohawk Industries, owner of Godfrey Hirst NZ.
Under the scheme, Mohawk is making a cash payment of 75c a share, and Bremworth intends to make a capital distribution of 30-40c a share. Bremworth said trading conditions had been more difficult than anticipated and it was now expected to distribute $14-21m, representing 20-30c a share.
The scheme, still fully supported by the Bremworth board, has been reduced to a total of 95c to $1.05 a share. The company said that if the scheme did not proceed, the deterioration in Bremworth’s cash position was likely to continue.
Santana Minerals, up 1c to $1.22, has extended the exploration target for the Rise & Shine discovery hole at the Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project in Central Otago.
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