Tariffs trump OCR cut

Household and business relief from a further reduction in interest rates at home couldn’t stop the New Zealand sharemarket falling amidst the tariff turmoil offshore.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index did spike to 11,867.06 points when the Reserve Bank announced a 25 basis-points cut in the official cash rate (OCR) to 3.5% - its lowest level since October 2022. Local banks had another round of reducing mortgage and borrowing rates.

But as the sweeping US, and retaliatory, tariffs took effect, the NZX index headed south again and closed at 11,806.55, down 84.89 points or 0.71%.

Trading was steady with 39.76 million shares worth $146.92m changing hands.