CBA surge buoys Australia’s market.
New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index dipped with CSL’s slump across the Tasman cast a shadow over healthcare stocks, with Ebos Group among those weighing on the local bourse.
The domestic earnings season is being keenly awaited, with rubber goods maker Skellerup Holdings an early starter on Thursday, before things gather pace next week.
Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index surged after Commonwealth Bank of Australia and James Hardie beat earnings expectations, with the country’s biggest lender on track for its biggest one-day gain since March 2020 and buoying the rest of the financial sector.
And Argosy Property was one of the stronger performers on the day after selling a site well above book value to repay bank debt that’s been getting on the higher side of its tolerance levels.
The NZX50 decreased 6.4 points, or 0.1%, to 13,507.28, with 19 stocks declining, 25 gaining and six unchanged. Turnover across the main board was $111.2 million, of which Fisher & Paykel Healthcare accounted for $12.4 million as it declined 1.6% to $39.35.
Ebos was among those pacing the local declines, falling 3.1% to $25 in a broadly weaker day for healthcare stocks on both sides of the Tasman after biotech firm CSL sank 6.1% after dumping its chief executive and posting an 81% slump in earnings.
“Investors are drawing a very long bow” given Ebos has nothing to do with CSL, said Matt Goodson, managing director at Salt Funds Management. “They did have one downgrade when the new CEO came in and no-one quite knows if there are more cost increases coming.”
Tourism Holdings led the local benchmark lower, falling 4.1% to $2.35, while software firms Serko and Vista Group International followed a soft lead on Wall Street, with the former down 3.6% at $2.40 and the latter falling 3.6% to $1.90.
The local market was the worst performer across Asia as Japan’s Nikkei 225 index climbed 2.3% in late trading, extending its charmed run since prime minister Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party swept to a supermajority in a snap election over the weekend, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.4%.
Australia’s ASX200 was up 1.3% in late trading after CBA’s lift in earnings was ahead of analysts’ forecasts, spurring a 7.8% gain for the nation’s biggest lender and putting it on track for its biggest one-day gain since March 2020.
Dual-listed Westpac Banking Corp posted the biggest gain on the NZX50, up 3.1% at $47.26, while ANZ Group Holdings increased 0.7% to $43.68. Heartland Group Holdings fell 0.4% to $1.25.
Argosy Property gained 3% to $1.20 after selling an Auckland property for $39.8 million, a 17% premium to book value, which it will use to repay debt. The property investor’s gearing ratio was at 38%, near the top-end of its policy.
Fletcher Building gained 1.1% to $3.77 after agreeing to sell an industrial property to Goodman Property Trust for $53.5 million, which will generate an $11 million gain in the upcoming earnings. Goodman Property increased 0.8% to $1.92.
Separately, Statistics New Zealand figures showed a 0.4% increase in the volume of concrete produced in the December quarter from a year earlier.
Spark New Zealand was the most heavily traded stock on the day with a volume of 5.3 million, ending the session unchanged at $2.19.
Skellerup slipped 0.5% to $5.57 ahead of what’s expected to be a solid first-half result on Thursday.
NZX gained 0.7% to $1.415 after Newsroom reported Rua Gold is planning to list on the stock exchange, while a report in The Australian was cool on the prospect for an initial public offering by Trade Me as its owner Apax Partners looks to sell the online classifieds business.
Outside the benchmark index, TruScreen jumped 11%, or 0.2 of a cent, to 2 cents after the cervical cancer test firm was the most accurate test in a clinical study by the Chinese Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Association.
Pacific Edge 2.2% to 23 cents ahead of the Novitas hearing on whether to resume reimbursing the Cxbladder test maker under the Medicare programme.
Bremworth dropped 4.9% to 68.5 cents after securing initial High Court orders for its proposed scheme to sell its carpetmaking business to rival Godfrey Hirst’s parent. A scheme notice won’t be released until the deal secures Commerce Commission approval and an Inland Revenue Department ruling on the tax implications of an accompanying capital return.
The kiwi dollar rose to 60.63 US cents at 5pm in Auckland from 60.40 cents yesterday, with Westpac NZ economists changing their forecast for the official cash rate, predicting a sharp increase in rates in 2027. They kept their view that the central bank will start hiking in December. The kiwi fell to 85.08 Australian cents from 85.34 cents yesterday.
Reporting by Paul McBeth.
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