NZ sharemarket lifts on budget cuts and US news

The S&P/NZX 50 Index had a very steady afternoon and closed at 11,479.01, up 11.35 points or 0.10%.

There were 60 gainers and 70 decliners over the whole market on volumes of 38.35 million share transactions worth $112.67m. The trading was dominated by Smartshares NZ Cash Exchange Traded Fund, with 17.55m units worth $53.02m changing hands.

Over the weekend, US Federal Reserve governor Jerome Powell indicated there wouldn’t be any more interest rate rises soon, saying the economy is proving more resilient than expected.

At the Fed’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Powell said the central bank would remain data dependent, with the full effect of rate hikes yet to work into the economy.