Market commentaries

WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares gained on expectations the US Federal Reserve may soften its interest rate outlook for the coming year.

The S&P/NZX 50 index rose 73.82 points, or 0.9%, to 8762.19. Within the index, 32 stocks gained, 10 fell and eight were unchanged. Turnover was $148.4 million.

The local market outperformed Asia, where Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.3% in afternoon trading, Singapore’s Straits Times index rose 0.4% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.1%. Volatility in equity markets has been heightened as the Fed started raising interest rates more aggressively, offering investors an alternative to stocks. A decade of nearzero rate policies had diminished the appeal of fixed income assets. New Zealand’s market has remained relatively attractive given the high proportion of companies paying high dividends.

Kiwi Property Group rose 3.4% to $1.385 on modest volumes, Auckland International Airport climbed 2.1% to $7.15, Property For Industry increased 2.3% to $1.795 in light trading, and Port of Tauranga advanced 1.6% to $5.10 in thin trading.

Sky Network Television led the market higher, jumping 8.5% to $2.16.

Heartland Group rose 4.4% to $1.41 on a volume of 588,000 shares, compared to its 90day average of 377,000. Spark New Zealand was the busiest stock, with a volume of 3.9 million. It was unchanged at $4.17. Meridian Energy slipped 0.4% to $3.405 on 3.8 million shares trading. Trade Me Group decreased 0.3% to $6.30 on a volume of 3.2 million. Fletcher Building slipped 1.6% to $4.85 on a volume of 2.3 million, compared to its 1.7 million average. Air New Zealand rose 3.1% to $3.19 and Argosy Property was up 1.3% at $1.195.

Spark, Fletcher, and Kiwi Property were among several companies to note global exchangetraded fund manager Vanguard as a substantial shareholder today. Of the others, Chorus rose 1.1% to $4.64 and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gained 2% to $12.50. A2 Milk Co increased 0.3% to $10.75.

NZX rose 1% to 99c.

Global traders fled growth assets like copper and oil for the safety of gold, punishing Australian energy stocks while lifting fueldependent airlines and gold miners yesterday.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 8.9 points, or 0.16%, at 5580.6, while the broader All Ordinaries lost 0.21%%.

As investors globally sought safety growth assets such as oil and copper dropped.

US crude dropped to $46.24 a barrel, its lowest level since August 2017 and a fall of more than 40% since early October. Copper was down 3.7%, hitting a threemonth low.

Qantas stock was up 5.07% and duallisted Air New Zealand shares climbed 5.21%, while Virgin Australia was flat.

The price of gold spiked 1.5% to $US1253.30, sending Australian gold mining shares as much as 6.8% higher.

Elsewhere in the resource sector BHP was flat while Rio Tinto gained 0.72%.

The Australian dollar was higher against its US counterpart as traders waited on a US Federal Reserve announcement on interest rates, buying US71.93c at 4.30pm AEDT, up from 71.91 on Tuesday. — BusinessDesk/AAP

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