Weak opens are expected Wednesday for the New Zealand and Australia share markets, with traders getting a negative lead from the U.S. Wall Street's 4-session winning streak ended with a triple-digit loss on the Dow Jones Industrials as concerns arose about the financial health of European banks.
New Zealand's sharemarket managed a gain on Tuesday as the nation continued to recover from Saturday's earthquake.
The benchmark NZX-50 index added 31.0 points or 1.0 percent to finish at 3.174.1.
Trading volume was 51.6 million shares valued at NZ$101.7 million.
Among the session's most heavily traded stocks, Auckland International Airport closed up NZ$0.02, Air NZ was up .05, Contact Energy was up .09, Fletcher Building was up .01, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up .02, Freightways was up .05, Infratil was up .01, NZ Oil & Gas was up .03, SkyCity Entertainment was up .02 and Telecom Corp of NZ was up .04.
For the Australia-NZ dual-listed stocks, AMP was up .05, Australia and NZ Bank was up .10, APN News & Media was down .02, Kathmandu Holdings was up .01, Telstra was down .01 and Westpac Bank was up .25.
In Australia, the share market was little changed after news that a majority government had been formed with a coalition of key independents backing the Labor party and Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Also during the session, the Reserve Bank of Australia announced that its cash rate would remain at 4.5 percent as expected.
At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was at 4,573.2, a decline of 2.3 points or 0.01 percent. The broader All Ordinaries index was down 2.7 points or 0.1 percent at 4,613.0.
Trading volume was 2.1 billion shares valued at A$5.6 billion.
There were 513 stocks closing higher, 525 lower and 355 unchanged.
The mining leaders closed lower, with BHP Billiton down A$0.11 and Rio Tinto down .85.
Among the energy stocks, Woodside Petroleum was down .08, Oil Search was down .03, Origin Energy was down .01 and Santos was up .04.
The major commercial banks were all higher. Australia and NZ Bank was up .10, Commonwealth Bank of Australia was up .23, National Australia Bank was up .12 and Westpac Bank was up .25. Investment bank Macquarie Group closed down .78.
In overseas trading, U.S. stocks moved broadly lower on Tuesday in a low-volume, post-holiday session. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 10,340.69, a loss of 107.24 points or 1.03 percent. The NASDAQ Composite index fell 24.86 points or 1.11 percent to 2.208.89 and the S & P 500 index was down 12.67 points or 1.15 percent at 1,091.84.
The other major Asia/Pacific region markets were mixed on Tuesday.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 average closed with a loss of 75.32 points or 0.81 percent at 9,226.00.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was up 46.02 points or 0.22 percent at 21,401.79.
China's Shanghai Composite index was up 2.11 points or 0.09 percent at 2,698.36.
In India, the BSE 30/SENSEX index was up 85.01 points or 0.46 percent at 18,645.06.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index was up 13.74 points or 0.43 percent at 3,230.89.
In South Korea, the KOSPI/Seoul Composite index was down 4.68 points or 0.26 percent at 1,787.74.
The Taiwan Weighted Index was down 6.55 points or 0.08 percent at 7,885.40.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.