The New Zealand sharemarket opened strong in early trade indicating its resilience even as the Wall Street closed out August on an unimpressive note.
The benchmark NZX 50 index was up 14.80 Points or 0.49% to 3,050.91 shortly after the market opened on Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, the broader NZX All Capital index moved up 15.88 points or 0.52% To Be At 3,088.06
On Wednesday though New Zealand markets were to have a strong opening indicating the market's resilience despite no strong directional lead from the U.S. markets, which were mixed following the release of the latest FOMC minutes by the Federal Reserve.
New Zealand's market closed lower on Tuesday, but by a small percentage compared to others in the Asia/Pacific region.
At the close, the benchmark NZX-50 index was at 3,036.1, a decline of 0.7 points or 0.02 percent.
Overseas US Stocks put on a lackluster performance to close out the month of August on Tuesday, with the lack of any substantive clues regarding the direction of the economy from the Federal Reserve contributing to the choppy trading on the day. The major averages gave up earlier upside and turned mixed following the report, lingering near the flat line for the remainder of the session.
While the Nasdaq slipped 5.94 points or 0.3 percent to 2,114.03, the Dow edged up 4.99 points or less than 0.1 percent to 10,014.72 and the S&P 500 rose 0.41 points or less than 0.1 percent to 1,049.33.
The minutes from the August Fed meeting revealed that a number of Fed policy makers called for further stimulus should the economy show additional weakness but offered no additional insight into the direction of the economy.
The meeting culminated in the Fed announcing it would reinvest earnings from mortgage-backed securities into government backed bonds.
Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the first half of the day after the Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 53.5 in August from an upwardly revised 51.0 in July.
The increase came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the index to edge down to a reading of 50.0 from the 50.4 originally reported for the previous month.
Also on the economic front this morning, the ISM - Chicago said regional business activity slowed down in August but still expanded for the eleventh consecutive month.
In a separate report, Standard & Poor's reading on home prices in 20 major metropolitan areas increased by more than expected in June, although the number was likely artificially boosted by the homebuyer tax credit.
In corporate news, Dollar General Corp. (DG) lifted its 2010 guidance following a strong second quarter profit. Meanwhile, sales missed estimates.
According to agricultural products giant Monsanto Co. (MON), it expects ongoing earnings for fiscal year 2010 at the low end of its previous guidance range of $2.40 to $2.60 per share.
Farm machine maker Deere & Co. (DE) also announced an agreement to sell its wind energy business to a wholly-owned subsidiary of Exelon Corp. (EXC) for $900 million.
Meanwhile, oil prices slumped Tuesday as a positive reading on US consumer confidence failed to ease concerns over a slowing economic recovery in the top oil consumer.
October crude oil slipped $2.78 to $71.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The price of oil fell nearly 9% in the month, its first monthly loss in three.
Expectations for a build-up in US crude inventories also weighed down oil prices.
On the currency front, the kiwi shed around a cent in the last 24 hours after business confidence weakened and the government bailed out South Canterbury Finance (SCF). And by 5pm on Tuesday the New Zealand Dollar had dropped to US70.30c, but made a slight recovery from the day's low of US70.09c.
In the early trading on the New Zealand stock market on Wednesday, market leader Telecom was down 1.46% as second ranked Contact Energy went down 1.59% while Fletcher Building, the market's third best stock, collected 0.80%.
In the retail sector, Hallenstein Glasson remained unchanged, jewelery retailer Michael Hill International slipped 1.45% and Warehouse was down 0.28%. Among energy stocks, TrustPower stayed the same.
Among the dual listed issues, Australia and NZ Banking Corp remained unchanged while Telstra eased 0.73%in early trading.
Among other notable stocks, Infrati and Mainfreight slipped 0.61% whereas, New Zealand Oil & Gas eased 0.87%, New Zealand Farming Systems was up 1.43%, Sky City inched higher by 0.35% and Sky Network Television and Fisher & Paykel Appliances remained unchanged as Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gained 0.34%.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
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.