Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said, \u201cIf you had polled every investor before the opening, our market would have been up. What do we know?<\/p>\n
\u201cThere 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Utilities investor Infratil declined 35c or 3% to $11.30; a2 Milk<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Goodson said the markets are sniffing out an end to the Middle East conflict. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all about the latest Trump headline. He\u2019s indicated they want to be out of there in the next two to three weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cBut there\u2019s still plenty of rockets flying and explosions, and a Kuwaiti oil tanker has been attacked.\u201d<\/p>\n All eyes will be on President Donald Trump\u2019s address to the US, at 2pm tomorrow NZT, where he will give \u201can important update\u201d on the war in Iran. <\/p>\n The Brent Crude oil price fell to US$105.20 ($174) a barrel, from US$112.80 the day before.<\/p>\n The NZ dollar was trading at US57.38c against the American greenback, and A83c against the Australian dollar.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Local stocks<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The scale of the move reflected relief \u2013 pure and simple. After weeks of uncertainty, investors suddenly saw a path, however tentative, towards stability.<\/p>\n 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%.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Other gainers were Serko, adding 5c or 3.03% to $1.70; Fonterra Shareholders\u2019 Fund increasing 15c or 1.83% to $8.35; and Blackpearl Group collecting 3c or 4% to 78c.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Argosy Property<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n