Greg Smith, investment specialist with Generate, said building activity was stronger than expected in the June quarter.
Total construction increased 4.8% after falling 1.5% in the previous quarter, and residential building work was also up by the same amount following a 0.1% drop in the March quarter.
It was the first rise in a year for total building activity, and the actual value of $8.2 billion was up 5.2% on the same June quarter last year.
Smith said the numbers suggested the construction downturn may be turning, which was encouraging for the domestic economy.
“The housing market is still subdued, and the labour market has its challenges, but business confidence is picking up, and we did see some green tinges in the reporting season.”
Smith said Reserve Bank Assistant Governor Karen Silk indicated it may not increase the Official Cash Rate (OCR) again until December and that it would take a data-dependent approach.
“The market is now pricing in a less than 50/50 probability of a rate hike in October, and the central bank will get a lot more data over three months than a month.
“I think the Reserve Bank is getting the balance about right – they’ve made progress on inflation and the expectation of OCR rises has lowered. This is all a supportive backdrop for equities,” Smith said.
ANZ card spending was flat in August, and annual growth fell from 6.1% to 4.1%.
ANZ said the tourism and recreation and non-retail trades and goods categories were higher, while durables and hospitality continued their zigzag pattern, with a fall following a lift in July.
“Fuel spend is still elevated, air travel is back, and movies are having a moment,” ANZ said.
In the US, the major indices rallied after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he would back holding interest rates steady if the August inflation data supported it. Treasury bond yields continued to fall slightly.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 624 points, 1.18%, to 53,686.11; S&P 500 was up 1.06% to 7747.71; and Nasdaq Composite increased 1.4% to 26,584.06.
Local stocks
At home, Mainfreight increased $2.55 or 3.89% to $68.05; Hallenstein Glasson rose 73c or 6.26% to a new high of $12.39; Channel Infrastructure was up 8c or 2.31% to $3.55; and Skellerup gained 14c or 1.88% to $7.59.
Market leader Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 55c to $44.84; Infratil gained 27c or 1.86% to $14.82; and Auckland International Airport added 8c to $8.63.The property sector was stronger. Investore increased 3.5c or 3.47% to $1.04; Property for Industry was up 4c or 1.76% to $2.31; Stride gained 2.5c or 2.23% to $1.14; Kiwi added 2c or 2.22% to 92c; and Vital Healthcare Trust collected 3c to $1.81.
Scales Corp gained 17c or 2.36% to $7.37; Serko increased 11c or 7.33% to $1.61; Oceania Healthcare was up 3c or 3.9% to 80c; T&G Global collected 9c or 3.9% to $2.40; and NZX added 7c or 4.83% to $1.52.
Turners Automotive was up 14c or 1.83% to $7.78; SkyCity added 2.5c or 3.94% to 66c; and Vulcan Steel gained 14c or 1.97% to $7.25.
Winton Land rose 9.5c or 8.76% to $1.18 after appointing a new independent chairman, Michael Stiassny.
Fletcher Building was up 5c to $3.91 after disclosing in its full-year 2026 remuneration report that managing director and group chief executive Andrew Reding earned $2.7m, including a base salary of $1.45m and incentives of $816,633.
Contact Energy was down 16c or 1.81% to $8.67; Santana Minerals decreased 1.5c or 2.29% to 64c; Delegat Group shed 14c or 2.96% to $4.59; and Blackpearl Group declined 3.5c or 9.46% to 33.5c.
Bremworth, down 1c to 76c, has now received a partial takeover offer from Mangawhai Collective for 43.94% of the shares it doesn’t currently own. The offer price is 90c per share, and Mangawhai holds a 19.73% stake.
Mangawhai is competing with Floorscape, which has made a full takeover bid at 95c a share.
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