NZX 50 outperforms Asia as soft Aussie jobs slow bets on RBA hike

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index outperformed Asia as soft jobs figures across the Tasman pared bets on the Reserve Bank of Australia hiking its key rate, offsetting hot US inflation raising the chances of a Federal Reserve rate increase.

Lodestone Energy will join the NZX next week after the solar farm developer successfully closed its initial public offering without an underwrite.

Infratil hit a five-month low as the wind continued to go out of the artificial intelligence trade’s sails, with a slump for South Korea’s Kospi triggering another circuit-breaker pause in trading after neocloud operator CoreWeave bond yields spiked to 15%.

And Sharesies favourite Rocket Lab had its worst day on the Nasdaq since July after the space firm delayed its Neutron rocket launch until next year.

Late surge

The NZX 50 climbed 72.41 points, or 0.5%, to 13,832.8, with 25 stocks gaining, 20 falling and five unchanged. The S&P/NZX 20 futures index contract for December increased 0.1% to 7,552, with 90 lots traded for a value of $679,000, while the NZX 20 advanced 0.7% to 7,571.07.

Turnover across the main board was $154.7 million, of which Fisher & Paykel Healthcare accounted for $32.9 million as the country’s biggest listed company rallied late in the session to rise 0.2% to $48.78.

Weaker-than-expected Australian jobs data spurred a gain for New Zealand’s exchange, as bond traders dialled back their bets that the RBA would hike its target cash rate next month. That overshadowed faster US inflation than forecast, which knocked Wall Street overnight. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.2% in late trading, paring a steeper decline, while the kiwi dollar rose to 80.94 Australian cents at 5pm in Auckland from 80.37 cents yesterday.

“The inflation print in the US has definitely scared investors off,” said Peter McIntyre, an investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners. “We’ve rallied after the soft jobs dampened the degree of rate hike expectations” in Australia.

Mainfreight led the market higher, up 2.9% at $67.40, with Brent crude oil futures falling 1.6% to US$104.41 a barrel at 5pm despite elevated tensions in the Middle East.

Ebos Group gained 2.9% to $20.35, while Contact Energy gained 2.4% to $8.81 after the power company’s September operating update showed South Island hydro storage at 135% of the mean. Meridian Energy rose 2.4% to $5.62.

Ryman Healthcare was the most heavily traded stock on the day with a volume of 1.9 million shares changing hands as the retirement village operator rose 1.7% to $1.79.

Auckland International Airport increased 0.9% to $8.27 after the country’s major gateway said total passenger movements slipped 4% in September, with later school holidays adding to the reduction in domestic traffic.

Chorus advanced 2.4% to $8.40 after S&P Global Ratings affirmed the broadband network operator’s BBB credit rating, with a positive outlook.

AI jitters

Infratil fell 2% to $12.95 as investors continued to sour on the AI trade after CoreWeave’s spiking bond yields unnerved investors, even as Bloomberg reported that Anthropic quarterly revenue jumped ahead of its presumed initial public offering next month. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 8% in late trading, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 index sank 5.1%.

Gentrack posted the steepest decline on the NZX 50, down 3.6% at $4.03, while Vista Group International declined 2.8% to $2.77.

Spark New Zealand fell 2.6% to $1.895, while Fletcher Building decreased 2.1% to $3.28 after Forsyth Barr analysts cut their target price on the materials company by 20 cents to $4.50 as the soft housing market remained a drag on its residential business.

Stock market operator NZX fell 2% to $1.46, even as Lodestone declared its IPO a success, raising at least $75 million to help fund its solar farm developments. Lodestone said it attracted new retail and institutional investors, and would debut on Oct 22 at 12pm.

Channel Infrastructure slipped 1.1% to $3.46 after the import terminal said total fuel throughput in the September quarter was in line with the prior year.

Sky Network Television decreased 1.1% to $3.59 after the pay-TV operator retained the rights for the Australian Open for another six years.

Outside the benchmark index, New Talisman Gold Mine jumped 40%, or 0.2 of a cent, to 0.7 cents, despite the broadly softer day for miners as Australia’s BHP and Rio Tinto were sold off. Dual-listed Santana Minerals fell 7% to 53 cents.

The yield on New Zealand’s 10-year government bond fell 5 basis points to 4.95%, while the kiwi dollar recovered overnight losses to trade at 56.28 US cents from 56.23 cents yesterday.

New Zealand Debt Management’s auction of $225 million of 2032 government bonds was almost four-times overbid, selling at an average winning yield of 4.54%.

And Nasdaq-listed Rocket Lab dropped 7.9% to US$59.18 overnight after pushing out the expected launch of its Neutron rocket to 2027.

Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from Curious News.