NZX 50 dips as Korean chip selloff ripples across Asia

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index joined a wave of weaker markets across Asia as South Korea’s Kospi slumped on the news that Meta Platforms is eyeing a move into cloud infrastructure and that Apple is in talks to buy chips from two Chinese semiconductor firms.

Infrastructure investor Infratil, which has followed the AI trade due to its CDC data centres business, was among the larger drags on the benchmark, while Spark New Zealand and Chorus were also on the red side of the ledger as investors continue to digest the government’s latest spectrum plan.

Retirement village operators Ryman Healthcare and Summerset Group Holdings slipped with the latest Cotality figures showing a third monthly decline in house prices, while a dip in Statistics New Zealand’s monthly new building permits masked a longer-term trend higher.

And retailer Warehouse Group fell for a third session to post a new record low, valuing the Red Sheds operator at $187.3 million, between software firms Eroad and Serko.

When the chips are down

The NZX 50 decreased 28.31 points, or 0.2%, to 13,582.19, with 23 stocks declining, 22 gaining and five unchanged. The S&P/NZX 20 index futures contract for September fell 0.3% to 7,642 with 80 lots traded for a value of $610,000, with the NZX 20 down 0.4% at 7,683.41.

Turnover across the main board was a relatively quiet $105 million, as Auckland International Airport accounted for $15.6 million of that, climbing 0.6% to $8.68.

The local board was among softer markets in a mixed day for Asia, with Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index down 0.1%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng up 0.7% and South Korea’s Kospi sinking 5.6%.

Infratil slipped 0.8% to $15.37 as one of the larger drags on the NZX 50, with Port of Tauranga down 2.5% at $8.61 and lines company Vector sliding 2% to $4.90.

Spark led the benchmark lower as it dropped 3.7% to $1.85 and Chorus fell 2.5% to $9.62 after the government yesterday revealed its auction plans for the radio spectrum used for mobile phones when the current rights expire.

Ryman declined 2.3% to $2.17 and Summerset was down 0.9% at $8.75 after Cotality figures showed New Zealand house prices dipped 0.2% in June from May, with the rolling three monthly average at its lowest level since July 2023.

Separately, Stats NZ figures showed residential building consents fell 4% in May from a month earlier, although annual growth accelerated to 19%.

Building blocks

Westpac NZ senior economist Satish Ranchhod said long-term consent issuance had been trending higher for more than a year, with 40,000 new dwellings consented in the past 12 months – the most since 2023.

“If tensions in the Middle East remain contained, we’ll hopefully see confidence in the economy lifting and cost pressures moderating,” Ranchhod said in a note. “That would help to reinforce the lift in consent numbers seen recently.”

Materials firms gained, with Vulcan Steel gaining 2.1% to $6.28 and Fletcher Building gaining 0.6% to $3.30.

Interest rate sensitive property companies were broadly stronger despite a 4 basis point lift in the yield on the 10-year government bond to 4.45%. Stride Property gained 0.9% to $1.145, Argosy Property advanced 0.5% to $1.045 and Investore Property increased 0.5% to $1.045.

Westpac Banking Corp led the NZX 50 higher, up 2.8% at $43.05 with Australian lenders rallying across the Tasman on a broker upgrade for National Australia Bank. ANZ Group Holdings gained 2.2% to $42.50 on the NZX.

Software companies were mixed as Gentrack climbed 2.3% to $3.95, while Vista Group International dropped 3% to $2.30 and Serko fell 2.7% to $1.45.

The kiwi dollar was unchanged at 56.74 US cents at 5.30pm from a day earlier.

KMD Brands slipped 0.5% to $1.84 after completing its one-for-25 share consolidation.

Outside the benchmark index, Warehouse sank 5.3% to a record-low 54 cents.

Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from Curious News.