NZX 50 Nears Record High, Tracks Wall Street Higher

New Zealand's stocks rose 70 points, or 0.5%, to 13,973 in Wednesday morning trade, up for the third consecutive session, tracking a rally on Wall Street overnight, buoyed by strong corporate earnings and lower oil prices. The broader index closed near its record high of 13,977, reached on July 29, mainly supported by gains in the financial, consumer staples, and technology sectors. Further moderating oil prices amid optimism over US-Iran peace talks also lifted sentiment, as easing inflation concerns tempered expectations of an interest rate hike. However, the latest data capped the gains, as New Zealand's unemployment rate increased to 5.6%, the highest since Q3 2015, raising expectations that the RBNZ will tighten its monetary policy. Among the early gainers were Summerset Group (2.0%), Infratil (1.4%), A2 Milk (0.9%), Westpac Banking Corp. (0.6%), Fisher & Paykel (0.5%), and Ebos Group (0.3%).

New Zealand's stocks added 129 points, or 0.9%, to close at 13,903 on Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session, buoyed by gains in the tech, healthcare, materials, and financial sectors. The broader index closed close to its record high of 13,977, touched on July 29, tracking gains on Wall Street overnight, supported by a rally in technology stocks and easing oil prices amid hopes of US-Iran peace talks. Further moderating oil prices also supported sentiment, as inflation concerns eased, tempering expectations of an interest rate hike. However, traders remained cautious ahead of the release of New Zealand's unemployment data on Wednesday, with the market expecting it to edge up to 5.4% in Q2. Traders also anticipated the release of a slew of US data, including jobs data, for guidance on the US economic outlook. Among the top gainers were Fisher & Paykel (2.8%), Westpac Banking Corp. (2.3%), Meridian Energy (2.3%), Infratil (2.0%), Freightways Group (1.1%).

New Zealand's stocks rose 34 points, or 0.3%, to 13,809 in Tuesday morning deals, extending gains from the previous session, tracking rises on Wall Street overnight, supported by a rally in technology stocks and easing oil prices amid hopes of US-Iran peace talks. Moderating oil prices also supported sentiment, easing inflation concerns and tempering expectations of an interest rate hike. However, traders were cautious ahead of the release of New Zealand's unemployment data on Wednesday, with the market expecting it to edge up to 5.4% in Q2. Traders also anticipated the release of a slew of data from the US, including jobs data for guidance on the US economic outlook. Energy, consumer staples, healthcare, and tech sectors mainly boosted the index, with notable gains from Ebos Group (1.9%), A2 Milk (1.0%), Infratil (1.0%), Channel Infrastructure (0.9%), Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (0.8%), and Venti Services Group (0.6%).