Manuka withdrew some forecasts but still had a stellar week.
New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index snapped a six-day run higher in a mixed day across Asia as investors await typically volatile US jobs figures and a potential ruling in the Supreme Court hearing on the lawfulness of US President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging tariff regime.
Tech stocks Gentrack and Vista Group International led the benchmark lower on Friday, following a soft lead from Wall Street’s Nasdaq Composite as investors have been more attracted to industrial firms on the Dow Jones Industrial Average in recent days.
The a2 Milk Co and Comvita advanced after Chinese inflation remained soft, even as rising food prices masked the underlying weakness.
Meanwhile, Manukau Resources gave up some of this week’s gains after it was forced to withdraw forecasts based on assumptions for heady increases in the price of silver and gold.
The NZX50 fell 20.69 points, or 0.1%, to 13,696.25, with 19 stocks declining, 23 gaining and eight unchanged. Turnover across the main board was $85.6 million, of which heavyweight Fisher & Paykel Healthcare accounted for $12.7m as it slipped 1.2% to $38.44.
That took the benchmark’s weekly gain to 1.1% in the first full week of trading for the NZX.
Vulcan Steel posted the biggest gain on the week, rising 5.4% to end Friday at $8.75, after being buoyed by the A$13.1 billion takeover bid for Australia’s BlueScope Steel. Fletcher Building also enjoyed a tailwind, gaining 2.5% across the week to close at $3.77.
Meanwhile, fishing group Sanford gained 3.5% through the week, ending Friday at $7.66, its third weekly gain in a row.
The NZX50’s decline on Friday was in a mixed day across Asia as Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.1% in late trading, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.3% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seen slipped 0.1% ahead of the December US non-farm payrolls and the prospect of the US Supreme Court ruling on the lawfulness of the White House’s Liberation Day tariff regime.
The kiwi dollar fell to 57.43 US cents at 5pm in Auckland from 57.68 cents yesterday.
Tech stocks on Wall Street have been under pressure ahead of the US data, which will feed into the Federal Reserve’s first policy decision of the year
Gentrack led the NZX50 lower, falling 3.5% to $8.40, while Vista Group International dropped 2.8% to $2.44 in its third decline in a row. The cinema analytics firm was the worst performer on the benchmark across the week, falling 6.2%.
The a2 Milk Co rose 1.2% to $10.78 on Friday after data showed China’s pace of core inflation stayed soft in December, with more expensive food prices masking the underlying weakness. The infant formula company counts the Asia’s biggest economy as a key market. Honey products firm Comvita rose 1% to 51.5 cents.
Goodman Property Trust posted the biggest gain on the day, up 2% at $2.02, while KMD Brands rose 1.8% to 28.5 cents and Oceania Healthcare advanced 1.7% to 90.5 cents on an unusually large volume of 2.1 million shares.
Spark New Zealand was the most heavily traded stock on the day with a volume of 4.9 million, gaining 0.4% to $2.31.
Outside the benchmark index, local mining stocks were mixed after Australia’s Rio Tinto confirmed reports it’s in talks to merge with Glencore in an all-stock deal. Rio dropped 6.3% in late trading on the ASX.
Dual-listed would-be gold miner Santana Minerals rose 2.3% to $1.125 on the NZX, while Minerals Exploration was unchanged at 25.5 cents and minnow New Talisman Gold Mines fell 4%, or 0.1 of a cent, to 2.4 cents.
Manuka Resources 7.7% to 15.7 cents after the parent of Trans-Tasman Resources had to withdraw a forecast based on its assumptions for future gold and silver prices, though was still up 41% on the week. Gold futures were up 0.3% at US$4,474 an ounce at 5pm in Auckland.
Components maker Rakon rose 1.1% to 90 cents, following rallies for US and European defence stocks overnight after US President Donald Trump said he wants to boost the military budget, having signed an executive order banning dividends and buybacks by contractors working for the government at the expense of the speed of procurement and production capacity. Rakon’s shares rose 9.1% for the week.
Reporting by Paul McBeth.
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