The earnings and outlook will set the tone for both technology stocks and market direction. Nvidia, the giant chip maker, was down 1.88% to US$186.60 (NZ$330.33).<\/p>\n
Solly said that with the US government out of lockdown, the market is receiving economic data, and there is concern about consumer confidence<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cInvestors in the US are wondering whether there is enough (economic) ammunition to cut interest rates.\u201d<\/p>\n The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.18% or 557 points to 46,590.24; the S&P 500 was down 0.92% to 6,672.41; and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.84% to 22,708.07.<\/p>\n Across the Tasman, the S&P\/ASX 200 Index had fallen 1.98% to 8,465.4 points at 5.45pm NZ time.<\/p>\n Local stocks<\/p>\n At home, leading stocks Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 34c to $36.64; Infratil fell 27c or 2.27% to $11.60; Ebos Group declined 59c or 2% to $28.86; Spark decreased 6c or 2.62% to $2.23; and Auckland International Airport was down 13c to $7.77.Freightways shed 21c to $13.67; Gentrack was down a further 22c or 2.86% to $7.47; Ryman Healthcare declined 9c or 3.16% to $2.76; and Port of Tauranga decreased 17c or 2.23% to $7.45.<\/p>\n In the energy sector, Meridian declined 16c or 2.69% to $5.79; Mercury was down 11c to $6.39; and Contact decreased 17c to $9.47.<\/p>\n In its October operating report, Contact recorded mass market electricity and gas sales of 385GWh compared with 320GWh in the same month last year.<\/p>\n Electricity generated or acquired was 1018GWh, up from 717GWh. Unit generation cost was $35.93 per MWh, down from $52.62.There were solid updates from Serko, Sanford and Investore Property.<\/p>\n Solly said Serko\u2019s share price rose 4% on a day when technology stocks were challenged, driven by a significant increase in completed room nights and the cost benefit of introducing AI to boost productivity.<\/p>\n \u201cSanford has strong cash flow and beat revenue and net profit estimates, while Investore has lower debt but higher maintenance costs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Online travel company Serko was up 10c or 4.08% to $2.55 after reporting a 45% increase in revenue<\/a> to $61.76m for the six months ending September.<\/p>\n Operating earnings were $6.1m, an improvement of $4.9m on the same period last year, and net loss was $9.5m, an 86% increase. The total spending to income ratio decreased from 106% to 97%.<\/p>\n The Booking.com<\/a> for Business drove the result, with room nights up 32% to 2.1m. Serko confirmed its income guidance of $115m-$123m for the 2026 financial year and revised its total spend to $124m-$128m, from $127m-$133m.<\/p>\n Sanford riding a wave<\/p>\n Seaford company Sanford climbed 31c or 5.04% to $6.46 after reporting steady full-year revenue<\/a> of $584.11m and a near 234% rise in net profit to $63.69m. It is paying a final dividend of 5c a share on December 8.<\/p>\n Operating earnings (ebit) increased 41.8% to $102.1m. Salmon contributed revenue of $127.5m, up 19.2%, and profit of $50.4m, up 23.2%; mussels $125.5m, down 6.4%, and $34.8m, up a record 150.4%; wildcatch a steady $318.9m and $52.4m, down 5.9%.<\/p>\n The company told the market that \u201cthe worldwide demand for protein continues to increase and provides tailwinds for Sanford\u201d.<\/p>\n