The New Zealand share market opened slightly lower on Friday despite receiving a positive lead from Wall Street, where US stocks closed slightly higher after the release of a better-than-expected jobless claims report. The decline was led by shares of Telecom.
The benchmark NZX 50 index gave up 7.73 points or 0.25% to 3,144.04 shortly after the market opened on Friday. Meanwhile, the broader NZX All Capital index declined 7.09 points or 0.22% to be at 3,184.20.
New Zealand's share market declined on Thursday, thanks in large part to weakness by leading company Telecom Corp, which declined more than 5 percent. The benchmark NZX-50 index declined 9.4 points or 0.3 percent at 3,151.8. Trading volume was reported by the NZ Stock Exchange at 41.5 million shares valued at NZ$97.9 million.
Overseas, US stocks ended Thursday's session with modest gains, as jobless claims fell by more than forecast, although dark clouds from the European financial crisis limited the upside.
Initial upside in the markets came after data from the Labor Department showed that initial jobless claims fell to 451,000 in the week ended September 4th from the previous week's revised figure of 478,000.
Economists had only been expecting jobless claims to edge down to 470,000 from the 472,000 originally reported for the previous week. With the bigger than expected decrease, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since falling to a nearly two-year low of 427,000 in the week ended July 7th, although they remain at a relatively high level.
US stocks, however, came off their highs in mid-afternoon trading after Bloomberg reported that Deutsche Bank (DB), Germany's largest bank, is mulling a share offering in order to raise roughly $11 billion in additional capital. The news served as a reminder of the continued turmoil among Europe's financial institutions.
The major US averages saw some downside in late-session dealing, but managed to end the day above the unchanged line. The Dow edged up by 28.23 points or 0.3 percent to end at 10,415.24, the Nasdaq rose by 7.33 points or 0.3 percent to 2,236.20 and the S&P 500 advanced by 5.31 points or 0.5 percent to 1,104.18.
Oil prices settled lower Thursday, reversing from a multi-week high reached during the session as traders cashed in profits. Modest strength in the greenback also weighed. October crude oil settled down $0.42 at $74.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after trading as high as $75.96. Oil prices are currently down 10% from their early-August high.
The Energy Information Administration in its latest supply update said US crude inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels to 359.90 million barrels in the week ended September 3. Analysts had expected a build of 1 million barrels. Late Wednesday, the American Petroleum Institute had reported a 7.3 million-barrel drop in inventories in the week.
Meanwhile, the OPEC in its latest monthly report released this morning maintained its oil demand forecast through next year. However, the cartel said supplies from non-member countries would be higher and a slowing economic recovery is likely to weigh on demand.
On the currency front, the New Zealand dollar was buying US72.57c by 8 am on Friday. In comparison, the kiwi was buying US72.19c at 5pm on Thursday.
In the economic news for Friday, data released by Statistics NZ indicated that New Zealand's merchandise terms of trade increased in the June 2010 quarter by 2.1 percent. The increase followed a rise of 6.1 percent in the March 2010 quarter and an increase of 5.8 percent in the December 2009 quarter.
Statistics NZ said prices for exported goods rose 3.8 percent in the June 2010 quarter, led by dairy prices and meat prices. Prices for imported goods rose 1.7 percent in the quarter, led by higher prices for petroleum/petroleum products and food/beverages. Statistics NZ said seasonally adjusted export volumes were up 0.3 percent while import volumes were up 1.0 percent, the fourth consecutive rise.
In the early trading on the New Zealand stock market on Friday, market leader Telecom fell 1.98% after the company failed to make a prioritized list for a portion of the Government's ultra-fast broadband project. Meanwhile, second ranked Contact Energy added 0.18% and Fletcher Building, the third best stock, gave up 0.24%.
In the retail sector, Hallenstein Glasson, clothing retailer Kathmandu Holdings and Pumpkin Patch remained unchanged, as jewelry retailer Michael Hill International advanced 1.49% and Warehouse added 1.08%. Among energy stocks, TrustPower and Vector remained unchanged in the early trading.
Among the dual listed issues, AMP, Australia and NZ Banking Corp, APN News & Media, Telstra and Westpac Bank remained unchanged in the early trading on Friday morning.
Among other notable stocks, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gave up 0.33%, Mainfreight advanced 1.16%, New Zealand Refining Company added 0.31%, NZX Limited collected 0.67% and Steel & Tube Holdings jumped 0.81%, as Fisher & Paykel Appliances, Infratil, Nuplex, New Zealand Oil & Gas, NZ Farming Systems, Sky City and Sky Network Television remained unchanged.
Meanwhile, Abano Healthcare surged 1.94%, Auckland International Airport added 0.49%, Air New Zealand advanced 1.59%, ANZ NZ Office Trust fell 1.32%, Cavalier declined 0.71%, Guinness Peat plunged 6.56%, Kiwi Income Property Trust added 1.02%, PGG Wrightson dropped 1.72%, Restaurant Brands NZ fell 0.82% and Sanford gave up 050%, as Goodman Property Trust, Pike River Coal, Property for Industry and Rakon remained unchanged.
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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.