NZ market falls 1.7% this week as it stutters into earnings season

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 13.82 points, or 0.1%, to 12,243.46. Across the main board, 91 stocks gained, 43 declined, and 45 were unchanged. Turnover was $86.9 million in relatively light trading, with just six companies experiencing volumes of more than a million. 

The week started with a bang on Monday when Japan’s Nikkei 225 experienced its biggest slump since 1987 amid fears that the US might be heading for a recession. As rising Japanese interest rates stoked, concerns about tech investments funded by a cheap yen were rapidly being unwound. 

Global markets settled down through the week, and local investors turned their attention to the upcoming Reserve Bank of NZ (RBNZ) policy review and earnings season starting in earnest. 

“Earnings season outlooks will be very closely watched and the Reserve Bank’s announcement next week,” said Jeremy Sullivan, an investment adviser at Hamilton Hindin Greene. “While we’re not expecting a cut next week, we’ll be focused on the dot plot for cuts and whether that will be in 2025 or later this year.”