Markets traditionally do well when that happens as it limits government spending, new taxes and regulation, and this time around provides hope that it will cool inflation.
Dan Stratful, investment adviser with Forsyth Barr, said if the CPI is another hot number, then US markets will likely head south. It will lead to further interest rate rises, and some people think the US Federal Reserve’s terminal rate is still not high enough.
The major indices rose for the third successive day in anticipation of the Senate gridlock. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.02 per cent to 33,160.83 points; the S&P 500 Index increased 0.56 per cent to 3828.11; and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.49 per cent to 10,6167.2.
At home, the retirement village sector was again hit as house prices continue to slide. The latest Quotable Value statistics show that median prices in some regions have fallen as much as 10 per cent this year, with Wellington down 17.6 per cent – the biggest fall in two decades.
Summerset Group was down 22c or 2.2 per cent to $9.78; Ryman Healthcare declined 14c to $8.01; and Oceania Healthcare fell 2c or 2.5 per cent to a new two-year low of 78c. Oceania has fallen 41.79 per cent over the past 12 months after reaching a high of $1.60 in early February last year.
Freightways recovered 15c to $9.90; a2 Milk added 4c to $6.28; Ebos Group increased 55c to $37.90; and Fletcher Building bounced back 6c to $4.99 after falling 3 per cent the day before when competitor James Hardie plunged 14 per cent after reporting a profit downgrade.
Pushpay Holdings, up 1c to $1.28, reported a 10 per cent increase in revenue to US$103.07m ($173m) for the six months ending September, while net profit fell 54 per cent to US$8.79m.
Pushpay, which is under takeover offer by a consortium of Sixth Street and BGH Capital, had net debt of US$35.1m at March 31, down from US$47.2m.
Retailers Briscoe Group was up 10c or 2 per cent to $5.10; Hallenstein Glasson collected 8c to $5.38; and KMD Brands gained 2c or 1.98 per cent to $1.03.
Other gainers were SkyCity increasing 4c to $2.79; Tourism Holdings adding 6c to $3.60; Sky TV up 5c or 2.24 per cent to $2.28; Restaurant Brands improving 11c to $7.13; Heartland Group collecting 4c or 2.34 per cent to $1.75; and Tower up 3c or 4.58 per cent to 68.5c.
Rakon rebounded 4c or 3.17 per cent to $1.30; Winton Land increased 4c or 1.85 per cent to $2.20; NZ King Salmon Investments gained 1.5c or 6.67 per cent to 24c; and Cooks Coffee was up 1.5c or 4.76 per cent to 33c.
In the energy sector, Meridian was down 16c or 3.4 per cent to $4.54; Mercury declined 5c to $5.48; and Vector was up 8c or 1.9 per cent to $4.29.
Manawa Energy plunged 45c or 7.96 per cent to $5.20 after reporting a 58 per cent fall in revenue to $286.76m for the six months ending September. But net profit was up 239 per cent to $390.8m largely due to the sale of the Trustpower retail business.
Manawa is paying an interim dividend of 7.5c a share on December 2 and it maintained its full-year operating earnings (ebitdaf) guidance of $127.5m-$140m.
NZME, up 1c to $1.16, reduced its full-year operating earnings (ebitda) guidance to $64m-$67m, from $67m-$72m, because of lower-than-anticipated advertising revenue and reduced number of real estate listings.
Vista Group, down 6c or 3.9 per cent to $1.48, told the market it has launched its latest SaaS product Movio Cinema EQ which provides greater automation and more sophisticated movie marketing campaigns for cinemas around the world.
Other decliners were Stride Property decreasing 3c or 1.9 per cent to $1.55; Argosy Property down 2.5c or 2.09 per cent to $1.17; Napier Port shedding 7c or 2.48 per cent to $2.75; Marsden Maritime decreasing 10c to $6.10; Ventia Services falling 11c or 3.93 per cent to $2.69; and Allied Farmers down 3c or 3.8 per cent to 76c.
