Brent Crude oil had fallen to US$90 a barrel but was back up to $95.38 at 6pm NZ time.
Markets had already priced in a peace agreement between the US and Iran, with the two-week ceasefire due to expire on Wednesday.
Wall Street
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 increased nearly 4.5% last week and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 6.6%, both hitting record highs, and Dow Jones Industrial Average was up nearly 3.2%.
The US stock futures were pointing to a fall of more than 0.5% overnight.
The local market’s attention will switch to the latest economic data, with the release of the first-quarter consumers price index, NZIER quarterly survey of business opinion (QSBO), and the Reserve Bank’s core inflation model.
ASB expected a 0.8% increase in consumer prices for the three months ending March, with annual inflation at 2.9%.
But that quarter doesn’t take into account the full impact of the oil crisis and the Reserve Bank has forecast 4.2% inflation at the end of June.
The QSBO is expected to show a decline in business confidence, following a strong lift in the final quarter of last year, with a net 39% of firms responding to better general economic conditions ahead.
Local stocks
Infratil increased 25c or 2.07% to $12.30; Gentrack gained 13c or 2.22% to $6.03; Blackpearl Group was up 3.5c or 3.87% to 94c; The Warehouse Group rose 3.5c or 4.73% to 77.5c; Delegat Group collected 13c or 3.23% to $4.15; and ikeGPS improved 5c or 4.81% to $1.09.
Fonterra Co-operative decreased 12c or 2.55% to $4.59; Serko declined 7.5c or 4.23% to $1.70; Briscoe shed 9c or 2% to $4.41; and NZ King Salmon Investments fell 2c or 8.33% to 22c.
In the property sector, Stride declined 4c or 3.36% to $1.15; Precinct was down 2.5c or 2.44% to $1; and Vital Healthcare Trust decreased 4c or 2.12% to $1.85.
Channel Infrastructure, down 1c to $2.94, has confirmed the contract with the Government to add 93m litres of diesel storage at its Marsden Point fuel terminal by the end of May, representing nine days of New Zealand diesel demand.
Channel said the contract was expected to deliver additional revenue of $8m this year but uncertainty in fuel demand remained and it retained the full-year operating earnings (ebitda) guidance of $95m-$100m.
Sullivan said the additional storage would be welcomed. Singapore has three main refineries and two of them have reduced throughput by 50% and 40%.
Genesis Energy, up 1c to $2.26, is going ahead with the second stage of its battery energy storage system programme at the Huntly Power Station, adding a further 200MWh capacity for a total of 400MWh – enough to power 120,000 homes for two hours.
Elsewhere in the energy sector, Meridian was up 11c or 1.99% to $5.65; Contact gained 6c to $9.39; and Mercury was down 10c to $6.45.
Fletcher sale
Fletcher Building gained 6c or 2.09% to $2.93 after receiving clearance from the NZ Overseas Investment Office and the Commerce Commission for the sale of its construction division to Paris-based Vinci.
The sale for at least $315.6m is expected to be completed by the end of June pending counter-party consents and restructuring conditions. Another $18.5m may be paid on the outcome of several potential contracts.
Scales Corp, up 7c to $5.99, told the market that the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority is investigating the operations of Esro Food Group, its joint venture partner in Esro Pet Food.
Scales said Esro Pet Food was not subject to the investigation and was a separate legal entity selling only to the pet-food market.
TradeWindow, down 0.002c to 19.3c, told the market its founder, AJ Smith, has resigned because of illness. Chief operating officer Dewald van Rensburg will take over in an interim role.
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