“The technology sector was hit hardest by the semiconductor and hardware stocks – we don’t have a huge exposure here in New Zealand – and the pressure is starting to show on private credit.
“There is a US$2 trillion [$3.5t] pre-commitment for data centres and the demand is not ebbing. But the credit market is creaking under the weight of the money needed to build them.
“It seems that whoever wins the data centre race, who cares what you need to pay [for credit]. The market may reach the point of saying ‘that’s enough’,” Sullivan said.
Chipmaker Nvidia was down 4.4% to US$212.21, Advanced Micro Devices fell 8.1% to US$507.93, Micron Technology declined 6.2% to US$856.49; infrastructure providers Nebius Group shed 7.23% to US$159.17 and CoreWeave, which operates 51 AI data centres, fell 10.06% to US$55.60.
Meta Platforms (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) was down 6.98% to US$648.86 after reporting a 26% increase in third-quarter revenue to US$64.6 billion, ahead of the market’s estimate of US$63.7b. Meta narrowed its full-year 2026 capital expenditures to US$135b-$145b.
Oil price surge
Oil prices jumped following a report that the US and Israel had plans for renewed strikes against Iran after next month’s midterm elections.
Brent crude oil was trading at US$113.8 a barrel (at 5.45pm NZ time), nearing the high of US$114.44 on May 4 after the Middle East conflict broke out.
Sullivan said the oil price rise will push up the inflation story, of course, and there’s been a reprieve in bond yields (US 10 Year Treasury Note yield has fallen to 4.966%).
He said oil flows out of the Persian Gulf in the past week have been 24 million barrels a day compared with 23.4 million barrels before the Iran war, and out of the Hormuz Strait 11.4 million barrels compared with 18 million before the war started.
NZ trading
At home, Fletcher Building declined 16c or 4.76% to $3.20; Infratil was down 12c to $12.15; Summerset shed 22c or 3.2% to $6.65; and Ebos Group dropped 39c or 1.85% to $20.65.
Colonial Motor Company was down 14c or 1.93% to $7.11; Turners Automotive shed 14c or 1.87% to $7.35; Millennium & Copthorne Hotels NZ declined 8c or 2.61% to $2.99; Comvita was down 1.5c or 1.86% to 79c; and Rua Gold declined 10c or 5.92% to $1.59.
Among the tech stocks, Serko decreased 4c or 3.92% to $1.01; Eroad was down 2.5c or 2.48% to 98.5c; and PaySauce shed 0.009c or 4.64% to 18.5c.
Mainfreight gained $2 or 3.05% to $67.50; Vector increased 14c or 3.11% to $4.64; Chorus was up 15c or 1.87% to $8.18; and KMD Brands improved 5c or 2.73% to $1.88.
Banking groups ANZ added $1.55 or 3.24% to $49.35; and Westpac collected $1.19 or 2.72% to $44.99.
New listing Lodestone Energy added 2c to $2.30 – 5c above its initial public offer price – and entrepreneur Guy Haddleton disclosed he held 7.174% of the solar farm developer.
ikeGPS, down 1c to $1, reported steady revenue of $12.7m and platform subscription revenue of $11m, up 22%, for the six months ending September, compared with the same period last year.
The software company is expecting subscription revenue growth of 30% for full-year 2027. It has cash of $27.4m and no debt.
Kiwi Property, up 1c to 89.56c, completed its $200m, seven-year green bond offer, carrying an interest rate of 5.62% a year.
Winton Land, up 2c or 1.75% to $1.16, said at its annual meeting it was continuing a review of its portfolio and capital allocation aimed at maximising value for all shareholders.
Chairman Michael Stiassny said “this is not a broken business. It is a sound business that has been badly let down by weaknesses in its governance, and that is what we are fixing”.
“Our portfolio is real, consented, well-located and capable of delivering value for years to come.”
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