NZX 50 inches higher ahead of US inflation data; Chinese tourists recover

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index eked out a small gain, with Vector and Contact Energy doing the heavy lifting, as investors eye US inflation data for a steer on whether the Federal Reserve will hike its benchmark interest rate this month, with New York Fed president John Williams downplaying the chance of increases in 2027.

Exporters were mixed as Chinese imports grew at a faster pace than analysts predicted, with a2 Milk Co and the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund gaining, and Sanford and Scales Corp declining.

Auckland International Airport and Air New Zealand pared earlier gains to end the day unchanged after Statistics New Zealand figures showed international visitors continued to rise in August, with Chinese tourists leading the revival.

Data centre investor Infratil missed the bounce for artificial intelligence-linked companies, as South Korea’s Kospi recovered from the Tuesday selloff, while Blackstone-owned data centre operator AirTrunk pushed out plans to list a real estate investment trust in Singapore, hot on the heels of Firmus Technologies ditching its ASX listing.

Waiting for inflation

The NZX 50 increased 10.79 points, or 0.1%, to 13,760.39, with 26 stocks gaining, 14 declining, and 10 unchanged. The NZX 20 index futures contract for December dipped 0.3% to 7,515, with 50 lots traded for a value of $376,000, while the NZX 20 inched up 0.1% to 7,519.61.

Turnover across the main board was $144.6 million, of which Fisher & Paykel Healthcare accounted for $30.6 million, as the country’s biggest listed company slipped 0.2% to $48.70.

Stock markets across Asia were mixed in the run-up to the US inflation figures, which are expected to show consumer prices rose 0.2% in September. New York Fed president Williams told Bloomberg that he expected one more rate hike from the central bank, but didn’t envisage any in 2027.

South Korea’s Kospi bounced from the sharp selloff yesterday amid fears that Chinese memory chipmakers were producing more competitive products, rising 1.4% in late trading, while Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.8%. Meanwhile, Singapore’s Straits Times Index slipped 0.2% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index declined 0.7%.

Interest-rate sensitive lines company Vector provided the biggest tailwind for the local bourse, up 3.5% at $4.77, while Contact rose 1.8% to $8.60 and Genesis Energy advanced 2.1% to $2.46.

Mercury NZ bucked the trend, falling 1.3% to $6.69 after reaffirming its earnings guidance, with generation volumes slightly lower than in the prior year.

Investore Property posted the biggest gain on the NZX 50, up 4.1% at $1.02.

Stock market operator NZX gained 2.8% to $1.49 as solar farm developer Lodestone Energy’s initial public offering closed, with managing director Gary Holden confident it would close successfully.

Slowing momentum

Infratil was one of the biggest headwinds for the NZX 50, falling 1.4% to $13.18 on turnover of $16.4 million. Blackstone-owned data centre operator AirTrunk delayed its planned IPO of a real estate investment trust in Singapore, citing rising interest rates and market volatility, a week after Australian data centre company Firmus quit its planned ASX listing.

Oceania Healthcare posted the biggest decline for the benchmark index, down 4.4% at 65 cents, while Briscoe Group fell 2.3% to $4.28.

Retirement village operators were mixed after Real Estate Institute of New Zealand figures showed house prices and sales volumes fell in September.

“Rising interest rates appear to be the main driver of the slowdown, though uncertainty about the election and the broader economic outlook has likely contributed,” ANZ New Zealand economist Matthew Galt said in a note. “Today’s data is consistent with our expectation that the housing market will stay soft over the coming months, and that house prices will end 2026 slightly down on where they started the year.”

Ryman Healthcare fell 1.4% to $1.76 and Summerset Group Holdings gained 1.2% to $6.78.

Fletcher Building was unchanged at $3.35 after the materials company reported increased sales volumes across heavy and light materials in the September quarter from a year earlier. Still, its residential unit continued to lag and the company said it didn’t expect much of an earnings contribution from the unit in its first-half result.

Exporters were mixed after Chinese data showed imports into Asia’s biggest economy jumped 31% in September from a year earlier, outpacing economists’ forecasts.

The Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund rose 1% to $8.99 and a2 Milk advanced 0.6% to $9.27, while Sanford fell 1.7% to $5.91 and Scales slipped 1.1% to $6.30.

Auckland Airport and Air NZ were unchanged at $8.20 and 38.5 cents respectively after Stats NZ figures showed August tourist arrivals rose a seasonally adjusted 2.8% in the month, with China leading the increase.

Nick Brunsdon, an economist at Infometrics, said the recovery in tourist numbers highlighted the impact of the weaker New Zealand dollar.

“Foreign visitors are finding their budgets stretch further, making New Zealand more attractive than it was a year ago,” Brunsdon said in a note.

The kiwi dollar traded at 56.23 US cents at 5pm in Auckland, up from 55.93 cents yesterday.

Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from Curious News.