NZ sharemarket down 0.5%, Skellerup hits all-time high – Market close
Skellerup hit an all-time high on an earnings upgrade, but the New Zealand sharemarket was down a further 0.5% amid uncertainty in the Middle East.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index was in gradual decline for most of the day, then rose late and closed at 13,651.22, down 71.98 points, or 0.52%, after reaching an intraday low of 13,571.85.
There were 62 gainers and 75 decliners on the main board, with 29.8 million shares worth 115.5m changing hands.
‘Some green shoots’
Rohan Koreman-Smit, senior equities analyst with Forsyth Barr, said the ramp-up in hostilities in the Middle East and higher fuel prices were creating volatility.
US President Donald Trump suddenly imposed a 20% toll on all non‑Iranian cargo transiting the Hormuz Strait and reinstated a blockade targeting only Iranian ships and their customers.
Brent Crude oil surged more than 9% – the biggest single-day gain since 2020 – following the announcement, and at 6pm NZ time it was trading at US$84.21 (NZ$145.31) a barrel.
Wall Street’s fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index, spiked 14.17% to 17.16.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.26% to 52,498.64 points; the S&P 500 declined 0.79% to 7515.34; and the technology-driven Nasdaq Composite fell 1.55% to 25,873.18.
At home, the NZIER’s Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion (QSBO) for the second quarter ending June showed a partial rebound in sentiment, with activity indicators soft overall and cost and pricing indicators pointing to acute inflationary pressures.
ANZ said the signals on costs and pricing would be of some concern to the Reserve Bank of NZ (RBNZ), but perhaps not a complete surprise.
Confidence in the general business situation rebounded from plus 1 to plus 12, and reported past trading activity lifted one point to plus 1, suggesting annual growth will rise from 1.5% to 1.9%.
Pricing and cost indicators intensified significantly. Expected selling prices increased 11 points to 54, and expected costs rose another 9 points to 54.
ANZ said the RBNZ’s monetary policy would want to see these indicators recede quickly.
“The July kick-off to the hiking cycle was justified to balance inflation risks. We do not see anything in today’s [Tuesday] results that shifts our view that the OCR will be lifted by 25 basis points in both September and October.”
Koreman Smit said the QSBO was not as bad as feared and followed positive moves in the Performance of Services and Manufacturing indices.
“Maybe there are some green shoots in the domestic economy.”
Other stocks
Skellerup Holdings, a global supplier of industrial, medical and agricultural rubber and plastic products, surged 37c or 5.67% to a new record of $6.89 after increasing its full-year 2026 net profit forecast to $64m-$65m, up from $57m-$62m. Its net profit in the previous year was $54.5m.
Skellerup said sales in the US, its largest market, had been higher than anticipated, as was the seasonal peak of dairy consumables in NZ.
Koreman-Smith said the upgrade was “stronger than we expected and it provides a base for a good run rate into the 2027 financial year”.
The NZX’s four leading stocks were weaker. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 17c to $39.75; Meridian Energy declined 9c, or 1.87%, to $5.58; Infratil declined 29c, or 1.87%, to $15.18; and Auckland International Airport shed 29c, or 3.29%, to $8.53.
Serko fell 6c or 4.14% to $1.39; Scott Technology declined 9c or 3.28% to $2.65; The Warehouse was down 2c or 3.36% to 57.5c; Bremworth decreased 3c or 4.11% to 70c; and Move Logistics shed 1.8c or 9% to 18.2c.
Ebos Group added 21c to $22.58; Scales Corp was up 12c, or 1.81%, to $6.75; Tower gained 2.5c to $1.87; Vista Group increased 6c, or 2.55%, to $2.41; Steel & Tube rose 2c, or 6.06%, to 35c; and Synlait improved 1.5c, or 4%, to 39c.
Ryman Healthcare, up 2c to $2.14, reported 325 sales – 265 resale and 60 new – for the quarter ending June. Resales were in line with the same period last year, and net resale contract volumes increased 7%.
New sales stock was reduced by 65 units to 414, and Ryman is on track to meet its building guidance of 157-168 units and aged care beds. Aged care demand was strong, with occupancy across the 4700 beds at 96.1%.
Cancer diagnostics company Pacific Edge, unchanged at 27.5c, told the market that commercial Cxbladder tests in the Asia-Pacific region increased 12.9% to 1,158 in the first quarter of full-year 2027, up from 1026 in the previous quarter.
Regional cash burn reduced to $170,000 for the quarter, an improvement of 9% on the previous quarter. Total laboratory throughput for the first quarter was 5116, down 8.3% from 5582 in the previous quarter, mainly due to fewer clinical trials.