NZX50 slides most in a week since Dec 2024 amid lurking rate hike fears
New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index marked its worst week in more than a year as hotter inflation than predicted stoked expectations the Reserve Bank may need to raise interest rates this year to stop the economy overheating, capping off an eventful week capturing US President Donald Trump’s posturing to add Greenland to the republic.
The a2 Milk Co led the benchmark index down on Friday and was the hardest hit on the week, with slowing Chinese birth rates adding to the uneasiness about the global trade environment and as Abbott Laboratories – which bought Synlait Milk’s Pōkeno factory – missed analysts’ earnings expectations as its nutrition unit’s sales were knocked by consumers shying away from baby formula price hikes.
Interest rate sensitive commercial landlords such as Precinct Properties NZ, Argosy Property and Kiwi Property Group were among those pacing declines on Friday.
Meanwhile, Spark New Zealand declined after Forsyth Barr kept its target price and ‘underperform’ rating on the stock, with the country’s biggest telco continuing to lose mobile market share to both 2degrees Group.
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