New Zealand will be starting the week solo in the antipodes with Australian markets closed for their celebration of the King’s Birthday public holiday, with stronger than expected US jobs figures on Friday calming investors after the earlier spat between US President Donald Trump and Tesla chief Elon Musk.
Still, the stronger labour market has prompted a rethink of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate track, pushing up government bond yields as traders pared back their expectations for lower rates ahead of US inflation figures later this week.
Retailers will be in focus for the NZX this week after the latest S&P/NZX 50 index reweightings will see Warehouse Group depart the benchmark later this month, replaced by rival Briscoe Group.
And the National Business Review’s annual List has been released, with the collective wealth of New Zealand’s brightest lights climbing to $102.1 billion from $95.7 billion, with the country now claiming 18 billionaires.
Labour of love
US non-farm payrolls figures showed the the world's biggest economy added 139,000 jobs in May, more than the 126,000 expected, which helped bolster stock markets on Wall Street on Friday, with the S&P 500 up 1%.
Still, the yield on 10-year US Treasuries climbed 12 basis points to 4.51% as traders dialled back their expectations for how deeply the Fed will cut interest rates, and the greenback rallied, with the kiwi dollar falling to 60.18 US cents at 7am in Auckland from 60.46 cents last week.
“The nonfarm payrolls and unemployment data indicate the US labour market has remained solid throughout the tariff turmoil and uncertainty, and is providing no signs that the economy is about to drop suddenly or sharply,” ANZ New Zealand economists said in a note. “Overall, the labour market continues to give the Fed time to assess what the impact of tariffs on prices and inflation will be.”
The US labour market calmed down US markets which had been grappling with the very public falling out between US President Donald Trump and his former confidante Elon Musk. The spat appeared to cool over the weekend with Musk deleting posts on the X social media platform linking Trump to convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein, although the president warned the Tesla chief of serious consequences if he backs Democrats in the midterm elections.
All by myself
New Zealand will kick off the trading week on its own with Australia closed for the King’s Birthday public holiday.
Australian miners will be in focus when the ASX resumes on Tuesday with The Australian Financial Review reporting that Rio Tinto is in talks with federal and state governments about a multi-billion dollar bailout for its struggling Tomago aluminium smelter in New South Wales.
Local investors will get their first chance to respond to the NZX50 tweaks announced at the end of trading last week, with Warehouse to leave the benchmark index, replaced by its rival Briscoe.
And the NBR published its annual List of the country’s wealthiest today, with the Mowbray brothers retaining their top spot with a $20 billion valuation, having toppled Graeme Hart in 2024. The collective wealth on the list grew to $102.1 billion from $95.7 billion last year.
Local data today include March quarter manufacturing figures from Statistics New Zealand.
Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash.
