NZX 50 slides as RBNZ rate hike looms; Sanford in play as Ngāi Tahu exits
Infratil rallied as Anthropic filed its papers to go public.
New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index fell in a mixed day across Asia, with the Reserve Bank expected to hike the official cash rate when it reviews monetary policy on Wednesday.
Health stocks including Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Ebos Group were among the bigger drags on the local bourse in a soft day for the sector on both sides of the Tasman, while Infratil was buoyed by Anthropic pushing go on its Nasdaq listing, spurring demand for the artificial intelligence trade.
Sanford touched a two-month high as Ngāi Tahu sold its 10% stake to Umios Corp, with an escalation clause if the Japanese group completes a takeover of the fishing company in the next year.
And Serko stepped higher after the online travel software developer said its first half went better than expected and it expects to raise guidance when it announces its half-year result in November.
A heavy weight
The NZX 50 fell 53.66 points, or 0.4%, to 13,680.27, with 23 stocks declining, 18 gaining and nine unchanged. The S&P/NZX 20 index slipped 0.4% to 7,473.36, with the futures contract untraded.
Turnover across the main board was $196.9 million, of which Sanford accounted for $72.5 million as Ngāi Tahu agreed to sell its 10% stake to Japan’s Umios at $7.47 a share, a 22% premium to Friday’s close, with an escalation clause if the fishing group is taken over by the Japanese firm or its associates in the coming year. The shares rose as high as $7.07, ending the day up 12% at $6.85 in the biggest gain for the NZX 50.
Stock markets across Asia were mixed as a slew of central bank meetings loom, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite both down 0.1% in late trading, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.3%.
New Zealand’s Reserve Bank is expected to raise the official cash rate 25 basis points to 3% on Wednesday. The kiwi dollar traded at 57.05 US cents at 5pm in Auckland from 56.97 cents last week.
“Price intentions are still relatively modest and there’s plenty of slack in the economy, but core inflation was relatively sticky,” said Greg Smith, investment specialist at Generate Investment Management. “They’re in an unenviable situation where you’ve got a weak economy telling you one thing but a supply shock telling you another.”
Interest rate-sensitive retirement village operators were at the bottom of New Zealand’s exchange, with Summerset Group Holdings falling 4.7% to $6.34, while Ryman Healthcare dropped 3.3% to $1.775. Lines company Vector also declined, falling 3% to $4.50.
Healthcare stocks were generally weaker on both sides of the Tasman, with F&P Healthcare down 1.5% at $48.13 and Ebos slipping 1.9% to $20.26.
A big float
Meanwhile, Anthropic’s filing of its initial public offering documents revived appetite for the AI trade, with South Korea’s Kospi up 3.8% in late trading while Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 2%.
“Anthropic’s going to be a big test of sentiment,” Generate’s Smith said.
NZX-listed Infratil, which counts CDC Data Centres as its biggest investment, rose 2% to $12.39.
Serko jumped 5.9% to $1.07 after saying it expected to make a small increase to revenue guidance of $128 million-to-$134 million for the March 2027 financial year when it reports its first-half result in November.
Vista climbed 7.2% to $2.84 after the cinema analytics firm reaffirmed guidance at a tech conference in Sydney, saying box office takings were up almost 20% in the nine months to Sept 30 and were expected to keep strengthening.
Channel Infrastructure gained 3.7% to $3.37 after the import terminal released consultancy Envisory’s latest long-term outlook for fuel throughput at Marsden Point, showing a predicted increase of 1.3 billion litres out to 2050.
Heartland Group Holdings was unchanged at $1.25 in a generally weak session for banking stocks on both sides of the Tasman. The financial services firm reaffirmed guidance for net profit of at least $102 million in the June 2027 financial year, with net interest margins and its cost-to-income both beating expectations.
Westpac Banking Corp fell 0.5% to $44.77, while ANZ Group Holdings was one of the few financial stocks to gain, up 0.3% at $49.48.
Outside the benchmark index, Trade Window Holdings was unchanged at 14.5 cents after the trade software developer said annual recurring revenue was up 16% in the September quarter from a year earlier, with gross margin widening one percentage point to 64% over the past six months.
Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from Curious News.
