The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has hiked rates by an expected 25 basis points, lifting its official cash rate to 2.6%, with the RBA governor warning that the central bank expects to increase interest rates further in the foreseeable period.

New Zealand’s market faltered as bond yields rose globally and investors wait nervously to see how much the Reserve Bank of NZ (RBNZ) and Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will be hiking interest rates this week.

It’s been an eventful week for New Zealand’s market which was closed on Monday for the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Day holiday and then spent the rest of this week being bounced around by the tidal forces of global currencies.

New Zealand’s market rose today after battling several days of currency turmoil, with export stocks pulling the index into positive territory.

Global markets drove weak sentiment into New Zealand’s market for a second day this week, with property stocks dragging the local market down further due to high swap rates.

New Zealand’s market was closed yesterday for the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Day holiday but fell almost 2% today due to global volatility from stock and foreign exchange markets.

New Zealand’s market edged lower today but held up well compared to international markets, especially in response to the Bank of Japan’s surprise intervention to help its sinking currency.

It was action stations across domestic and international markets today, with the US Federal Reserve (the Fed) deciding on a 75 basis-point interest-rate hike this morning, an announcement which sent the New Zealand dollar plummeting to its lowest point since March 2020.

Air New Zealand shares flew up today after it released encouraging half-year earnings guidance in the range of $200 million to $275m.

The New Zealand dollar fell to an almost two-and-a-half year low while stocks had a mixed day in NZ’s market.

It was quiet on New Zealand’s sharemarket today, with the index ending the day flat, as little corporate – or global – news and last week’s shock inflation data out of the US left investors pensive.

New Zealand's sharemarket lost further ground on Friday, having already suffered a significant fall on Wednesday when US inflation data was released.

Church management software company Pushpay plunged almost 15% while NZ’s market ended the day flat – which was markedly better than yesterday when the index fell more than 1%.

Global stock markets were awash with red ink overnight – which seeped into NZ’s market today – after US inflation data came in higher than forecast.

New Zealand’s stock market ended in the red as fresh house price data kept a lid on property stocks and retirement village operators.

New Zealand’s market rose today – thanks to positive sentiment from Wall Street on Friday – while Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund units jumped for a second day on the back of the dairy co-op raising its earnings guidance last week.