Infratil advanced after another valuation uplift for its CDC business.
New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index rose for a fourth session, as the A$13.1 billion offer for Australia’s BlueScope Steel spurred gains among local steel products firms with Vulcan Steel leading the benchmark index higher.
Infratil gained for a second day after the valuation for its key CDC data centres business was raised on the strength of the recent increase in contracted capacity, while the artificial intelligence sector took heart more generally from Nvidia chief Jensen Huang saying Chinese demand for the H200 chips was strong.
Meanwhile, the dual-listed lenders Westpac Banking Corp and ANZ Group Holdings were at the bottom of New Zealand’s leaderboard, with the banks sold off across the Tasman and weighing on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index in late trading.
And local energy stocks – which are mainly renewable generators – were mixed after the strong lead on Wall Street where oil majors Chevron and Exxon Mobil rallied on the US ousting of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The NZX50 rose 76.35 points, or 0.6%, to 13,663.58, with 32 stocks gaining, 13 declining and five unchanged. Turnover across the main board was $85.3 million, of which Fisher & Paykel Healthcare accounted for $13.7m as it gained 0.4% to $37.82.
Vulcan Steel led the benchmark higher, climbing 3.6% to $840, while materials firm Fletcher Building gained 1.6% to $3.81 after the A$13.1b takeover bid for BlueScope Steel – the owner of NZ Steel – spurred on steel products companies on this side of the Tasman. Steel & Tube Holdings, which counts BlueScope’s NZ Steel as a cornerstone shareholder, jumped 4.7% to 67 cents.
Kerry Stokes’ SGH and Nasdaq-listed Steel Dynamics made a conditional bid for BlueScope at A$30 a share, which if successful would see the US company take the North American business and leave the Australian firm with the rest of BlueScope’s assets. BlueScope soared 21% to A$29.59 in late trading.
“It’s a vote of confidence in those more cyclical industries that should perform well if the economy does what we’re hoping it will,” said Mark Lister, investment director at Craigs Investment Partners.
Infratil helped buoy the local market as it rose for a second day, up 2.6% at $11.73, after the infrastructure investor said the midpoint of the latest independent valuation of its CDC data centres business rose A$349 million to A$14b after the recently announced lift in contracted capacity.
Separately, Nvidia chief Jensen Huang’s optimism about Chinese demand for his firm’s H200 chip supported tech stocks across Asia.
Gentrack rose 1.7% to $8.59, Vista Group International advanced 1.5% to $2.65 and Serko increased 1.3% to $3.12.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was up 0.9% in late trading, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 1.1% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 1.8%.
Australia’s ASX200 was down 0.4% in late trading, with a decline among the big four banks weighing on the benchmark. Dual-listed Westpac fell 2.6% to $44.14 on the NZX and ANZ was down 2.6% at $41.31, marking the day’s worst performers on the local bourse.
Local energy companies were mixed after oil major Chevron led the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a new peak on Wall Street, with US energy stocks gaining on the ousting of Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro and US President Donald Trump seeking to send in American companies to rebuild the Latin American nation’s broken oil infrastructure. Brent crude oil futures dipped 0.2% to US$61.63 a barrel at 5pm in Auckland.
Mercury NZ gained 0.8% to $6.55 and Contact Energy increased 0.7% to $9.34, while Genesis Energy – which has a stake in the Kupe oil and gas field – was unchanged at $2.40 and Meridian Energy fell 0.9% to $5.55.
Skellerup, which supplies components to the oil and gas industry, rose 1.3% to $5.28.
Meanwhile, the heightened geopolitical risks helped push up gold futures 0.6% to US$4,478 an ounce, and would-be miner Santana Minerals gained 1.9% to $1.06.
Auckland International Airport was the most heavily traded stock with a volume of 1.3 million as it rose 1.8% to $8.50.
And outside the benchmark index, Move Logistics surged 21% to 34 cents, its highest level since August 2024.
On the USX, Skyline Enterprises rose 4.1% to $23 after agreeing to sell its Christchurch Casinos business to an Australian buyer. NZX-listed SkyCity Entertainment Group increased 0.6% to 91.5 cents.
The kiwi dollar rose to 57.98 US cents at 5pm in Auckland from 57.49 cents yesterday, and traded at 86.24 Australian cents from 86.41 cents.
Reporting by Paul McBeth.
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