NZ sharemarket falls on weak export data, S&P/NZX 50 down 0.99% – Market close

Most leading stocks ended weaker on the New Zealand sharemarket on the back of soft export data, while corporate activity bubbled away in the background.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed down 127.82 points or 0.99% at 12,883.69, with 35.46 million shares worth $184.2 million trading.

There were 81 falls and 56 gains on the main board.

US stocks continued their march higher, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reaching new record highs amid optimism about the upcoming reporting season for the June quarter, with reports from Tesla and Alphabet (Google) due this week.

Hamilton Hindin Greene investment adviser Jeremy Sullivan said weak trade data for the June quarter showed the New Zealand economy still had work to do to achieve growth.

Stats NZ data showed goods exports fell 3.7% to $19.7 billion in the June quarter, after an 11% rise in the March 2025 quarter.

The quarterly trade balance was a deficit of $709m.

“Our market has come back on the New Zealand export data from Stats NZ showing a decline for the first time since Q3 2023, which points to a weaker economy, but I think we just need to zoom out a little bit and realise that there was a surge in the last quarter and dairy exports are still very high,” Sullivan said.

“The trade data, combined with yesterday’s inflation data, will give the Reserve Bank comfort to cut the Official Cash Rate [OCR] on August 20, and that’s certainly what the market is pricing in,” Sullivan said.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which has the biggest bearing on the local index, dropped 38c or 1% to $36.69.

Most other leading issues were also weaker, among them being Auckland International Airport down 20c or 2.5% to $7.60, a2 Milk down 6c (0.7%) to $8.47, Freightways down 19c (1.69%) to $11.06 and Mainfreight down 80c (1.2%) to $66.20.

Fletcher Building gained a cent to close at $3.06 after advising that it had begun exploring potential divestment options in relation to its Construction Division and its Higgins, Brian Perry Civil and Fletcher Construction Major Projects business units.

“Fletcher is of course testing the water with Higgins and Brian Perry,” Sullivan said.

“The Higgins side of the business is very profitable, so there is potential for them to free up a bit of capital and reduce debt, and of course that was signalled in the 2024 strategic review as well.”

Sky TV rallied by 14c or 4.8% to $3.06 after announcing it had agreed to acquire 100% of the financially troubled TV3 for $1.

“It’s fair to say there’s probably plenty of costs in the back office that they [Sky] can look to reduce and, while it sounds like it’s a loss-making entity, it doesn’t sound like it’s losing a lot,” he said.

Data technology company Black Pearl Group was one of the best performers on the day, ending 8c (7.1%) higher at $1.20 on light volume.

Black Pearl earlier said it had achieved $14.0m in annual recurring revenue (ARR) at the end of its first quarter to June 30.

Since then, the company had announced the conditional acquisition of B2B Rocket.

Including B2B Rocket’s ARR as at the same date, total ARR would be $17.5m – representing a 105% increase compared with Black Pearl’s June 2024 figure, it said.

Aged care company Third Age Health gained 4c to $4.32 after announcing that chief executive Tony Wai was stepping down, effective from October.

Wai said the business was well-positioned for continued growth.

Jamie Gray is an Auckland-based journalist, covering the financial markets and the primary sector. He joined the Herald in 2011.