Apple added 4.3%, extending its one-month rally to over 12%, with the stock approaching a record high as its market value nears US$4 trillion.
Investment specialist at Generate Greg Smith said the local bourse had missed out on the rally due to a lack of exposure to technology stocks.
“Tech led the gains and we’re not overly blessed with big tech names [on our index],” he said, adding Oracle Corp stock had jumped 6% on news that it was involved in the deal for social media platform, TikTok.
The movers
One company that did appear to cash in on happenings in the US, Smith said, was Infratil, which lifted 1.24% to $12.25.
He said the OpenAI deal was one of many recent transactions in the US that had “reinforced the cloud and AI thematic”, which Infratil is exposed to through its investment in Canberra Data Centres (CDC).
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare dominated volumes, with over $20.5m in turnover.
After a tough start to the year, the largest company on the exchange is edging towards breakeven in 2025 and is up over 15% over the past six months. It dropped 1.55% to $37.40 on Tuesday.
Travelling in the other direction was Ebos Group, which gained 2.93% to $29.54 after several days of volatility linked to its addition to the ASX 200.
“Ebos is still some distance away from where it was before the August spill,” Smith said, referring to a 14% drop after its full-year result.
Gold rush
Across the Tasman, the ASX 200 had climbed 0.43% by 5pm, taking it up to a near 8% lift for the calendar year.
The price of gold, which typically rises in periods of uncertainty, is trading near all-time highs and edging close to US$4000.
As with the lack of technology exposure, the NZX did not cash in on the minerals rally that helped lift the Australian benchmark.
An hour before close on the ASX, Emerald Resources and Westgold Resources were up 4.77% and 3.7% respectively.
In New Zealand, Santana Minerals rose 2.81% to 91.5 cents on volumes worth $535,000.
Daily volumes of Smart’s Gold exchange-traded fund (ETF), which tracks the price of the mineral, have been elevated in recent weeks, climbing over $1m in value traded for the first time in late August. They were over $400,000 on Tuesday.
Dual-listed retailer KMD Brands will report full-year earnings on Wednesday, with Fonterra set to report later in the week.
KMD Brands lost 2.13% to 23 cents, while Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund ticked 2.69% higher to $7.45.
