Oceania Health led the bourse higher in a late rally on Friday.
An Oceania Healthcare village.
New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index staged a late rally on Friday to end the day marginally in the green, but was still softer across the week after Westpac NZ’s unexpected hike in mortgage rates firmed up expectations that the Reserve Bank won’t be trimming the cash rate any time soon.
Big-box retail landlord Investore Property was the worst performer on the week, while Sky Network Television remained under pressure as the future of its grip on HBO content remains up in the air while Warner Bros Discovery is pursued by Paramount Skydance and Netflix.
Hallenstein Glasson Holdings enjoyed its strongest week since October last year after Forsyth Barr analysts welcomed the strong trading update at its annual meeting and as Statistics New Zealand figures today showed the Black Friday sales in November seemed to attract plenty of customers.
The NZX50 was relatively subdued on Friday, while stock markets across Asia bounced back from yesterday’s tech selloff over Oracle’s mounting bill to build artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The NZX50 nudged up 11.04 points, or 0.1%, to 13,406.91 on Friday, with 27 stocks gaining, 19 declining, and four unchanged. Turnover across the main board was $92.1 million, of which Fisher & Paykel Healthcare accounted for $11.3 million as it fell 1.5% to $37.44.
That took the weekly decline to 0.6% as investors were spooked by Westpac NZ’s hiking of its two- through five-year mortgage rates, which firmed up expectations that the Reserve Bank is unlikely to cut the official cash rate any lower than its current 2.25%.
Two- and 10-year swap rates rose 18 basis points to 3.08% and 4.19% respectively this week, while the kiwi dollar was heading for a 0.6% gain to 58.11 US cents at 5pm in Auckland.
Matt Goodson, managing director at Salt Funds Management, said inflation is coming off the boil and he’s optimistic the OCR can stay at 2.25% through 2026.
“I can see a really good year for the economy where we’ve got reasonable growth and no need to tighten monetary policy,” Goodson said.
Investore Property posted the steepest decline over the week, falling 4.9% to end Friday at $1.16, while KMD Brands fell 3.6% across the week to 27 cents.
Sky Network Television pared its weekly decline 3.4% to end Friday at $3.39, with the pay-TV operator’s future grip on HBO content becoming uncertain amid the takeover tussle between Netflix and Paramount over Warner Bros Discovery.
Meanwhile, Hallenstein Glasson Holdings gained 3% to $10.20 on Friday, taking its weekly gain to 9.1%. That’s the retailer’s best week since October last year.
The clothing chain had its target price upgraded by Forsyth Barr analysts this week after a solid trading update, and Stats NZ figures today beat expectations in showing retail spending on credit and debit cards climbed 1.2% in November.
Darren Gibbs, a senor economist at Westpac NZ, said the increased sales were likely buoyed by stronger household finances and the Black Friday sales.
“Looking ahead, with the average paid mortgage rate continuing to decline by around 10 basis points a month as mortgage holders refinance, and with the labour market likely to transition from mere stabilisation to positive job growth, we expect that conditions in the retail sector will continue to improve gradually during 2026 following a very difficult post-pandemic trading environment,” Gibbs said in a note.
Other retailers weren’t so lucky, with KMD Brands down 1.8% on the day, while Briscoe Group fell 1% to $4.95 on Friday. Outside the benchmark index, Warehouse Group rose 1.3% to 76 cents and Michael Hill International was unchanged at 39.5 cents.
Oceania Health posted the biggest gain on the day, up 3.3% at 93 cents, while Ryman Healthcare advanced 2.4% to $2.95 and Summerset Group Holdings increased 0.4% to $12.25.
Serko and Vista Group International joined other tech companies across Asia bouncing back from yesterday’s selloff when Oracle’s quarterly earnings revived nerves about the pace of spending on AI infrastructure. Vista rose 2.6% to $2.72, while Serko gained 2.4% to $2.95, taking its weekly rally to 6.1%. Gentrack slipped 0.9% to $9.15.
Stock markets across Asia were broadly stronger, with Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index up 1.2% in late trading as miners and banking stocks rallied, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.9% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 1.4%.
Tourism Holdings posted the NZX50’s biggest decline on Friday, falling 3% to $2.60. Would-be suitor BGH Capital and the Trouchet family’s cooperation agreement is due to expire this weekend.
Outside New Zealand’s benchmark index, Comvita rose 5% to 53 cents after the honey products maker said it needs to raise at least $25 million of new capital as part of its agreement with its bankers to push out upcoming maturities.
Reporting by Paul McBeth.
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