Vista climbs on Black Widow debut

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 73.05 points, or 0.6%, to 12,763.4. Turnover was $174 million.

NZ was caught in a global wave of pessimism on Friday after offshore investors sold risk assets on Thursday night due to concerns about the covid-19 delta variant slowing economic growth.

That mood dissipated overnight Friday as markets rallied, helped by the People’s Bank of China cutting its reserve ratio requirements – a move that will free up a trillion yuan for Chinese banks to lend into the economy.

Meanwhile, the RBNZ is holding its monetary policy review on Wednesday, with analysts widely expecting the bank to leave all settings unchanged. But with the economy heating up fast, the official cash rate will have to move up eventually.