Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said, “If you had polled every investor before the opening, our market would have been up. What do we know?
“There was a very strong read from Wall Street, the mining and resource stocks were up aggressively in Australia, but some company movements here were a bit of a surprise, with no real reason,” he said.
Utilities investor Infratil declined 35c or 3% to $11.30; a2 Milk fell 40c or 3.46% to $11.15; and Meridian Energy, the second-biggest local stock on market capitalisation, was down 11c or 1.99% to $5.42.
Goodson said the markets are sniffing out an end to the Middle East conflict.
“It’s all about the latest Trump headline. He’s indicated they want to be out of there in the next two to three weeks.
“But there’s still plenty of rockets flying and explosions, and a Kuwaiti oil tanker has been attacked.”
All eyes will be on President Donald Trump’s address to the US, at 2pm tomorrow NZT, where he will give “an important update” on the war in Iran.
The Brent Crude oil price fell to US$105.20 ($174) a barrel, from US$112.80 the day before.
The NZ dollar was trading at US57.38c against the American greenback, and A83c against the Australian dollar.
The US markets had one of their biggest one-day rallies in recent times. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 2.49% to 46,341.51 points; the S&P 500 rose 2.91% to 6528.52, its best day since May last year; and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 3.83% to 21,590.63.
Local stocks
One US commentator said this surge was not driven by earnings reports or long-term economic shifts. Instead, it was triggered by a geopolitical narrative shift: growing optimism that tensions involving Iran could de-escalate.
The scale of the move reflected relief – pure and simple. After weeks of uncertainty, investors suddenly saw a path, however tentative, towards stability.
The US indices still had one of their worst quarters since 2022. The Dow decreased 3.6% in the first three months of this year; the S&P 500 declined 4.6%; and the Nasdaq fell 7.1%.
At home, Freightways rebounded 34c or 2.83% to $12.34; Gentrack increased 16c to $6.78; Skellerup was up 10c or 21.92% to $5.30; and Mainfreight added 61c to $58.40.
Seeka bounced back with a gain of 21c or 4.69% to $4.69; Vulcan Steel improved 12c or 1.88% to $6.50; The Warehouse collected 1.5c or 2.27% to 67.5c; Michael Hill added 1.5c or 3.41% to 45.5c; and NZX was up 3c of 2.29% to $1.34.
Other gainers were Serko, adding 5c or 3.03% to $1.70; Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund increasing 15c or 1.83% to $8.35; and Blackpearl Group collecting 3c or 4% to 78c.
Ebos Group was down 29c to $21.96; Ryman Healthcare decreased 5c or 2.36% to $2.07; Hallenstein Glasson shed 22c or 2.2% to $9.76; Comvita declined 3.5c or 5% to 66.5c; Kiwi Property eased 2c or 2.2% to 89c; and PGG Wrightson was down 6c or 2.78% to $2.10.
Radius Residential Care, up 1c or 2.74% to 37.5c, is buying the 90-bed Wellington Karori Village care home for $13.6m, with settlement expected in late May.
Argosy Property, down 2c or 1.77% to $1.11, has unconditionally sold the heritage building at 143 Lambton Quay in Wellington for $6m, in line with the expected March 31 valuation. Settlement is expected in May.
Property for Industry, shedding 7c or 3.14% to $2.16, has completed its $200m, 6.5-year bond offer with an interest rate of 5.35% a year. The bonds will be issued on April 13.
Tourism Holdings, down 8c or 3.67% to $2.10, has completed the sale of its British and Ireland business to Portugal-based recreational vehicle rental company Indie Campers for $8m.
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