Pre-result confidence drives NZ sharemarket up
The New Zealand sharemarket was up on Wednesday as many key stocks firmed in advance of their results, while updates from Napier Port and My Food Bag brought mixed returns.
Wednesday, August 13th 2025, 7:30PM
by BusinessDesk
On the main board, the S&P/NZX 50 Index closed up 0.05% or 6.864 points, rising to 12,766.540, after 47.9 million shares worth $148.6m changed hands.
The S&P/NZX 20 index closed at 7479.72 points, up 0.10%, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 12,518.14, rising 0.15%.
There were 62 gainers on the main board and 66 decliners.
Losses recovered
Salt Funds Management managing director Matt Goodson said the New Zealand market had recovered losses made on Tuesday.
“New Zealand is still not really into the heart of results season, so I think it’s pretty much still wait-and-see mode ahead of results,” Goodson said.
“There was a bit of a strange lead from the US overnight. Their market rallied quite strongly despite the fact that inflation data was a touch higher than expected.”
Napier Port strong
On the main board, Goodson pointed to Napier Port’s strong nine-month result, although its share price fell 1.89% to $3.12.
The business reported that its revenue increased 16.4% to $42.5m from $36.5m in the same period last year.
“They’re clearly seeing extremely good export volumes at present, and so they’ve reiterated guidance at the top end of their guidance range.
“The stock has been very strong in recent months, partly on the improved macro outlook, partly on index inclusions, but I think that result certainly strengthened the name.”
Elsewhere, Infratil had a minor independent valuation update. Its share price dipped 0.005c to $11.78.
Vital Healthcare Property Trust's share price lifted 0.51% to $1.99 after releasing its full-year financials.
Goodson said Vital’s gearing was relatively high at almost 42% on a committed basis, with no real progress on further investments.
“The Australian healthcare property sector is in a real state of turmoil at the moment due to the receivership of Healthscope, the second largest hospital chain in Australia.
“Investors just have some question marks about the rental affordability for some of the hospital tenants and the valuations attached to some of the hospital assets in Australia.”
My Food Bag takes a hit
Meanwhile, My Food Bag investors sold off in high volume today after the company gave an update to the market at its annual meeting.
While the business’ revenue growth continued with sales up 3.8% over the first four months of trading versus the same period last year, gross margins for the first half of 2026 were expected to be below the prior year as its price increases have lagged food price inflation.
My Food Bag shares fell 4% or 1c to 24c after 545,194 shares changed hands.
Wall Street surge
Wall Street stocks surged to fresh records after United States data showed stable inflation, despite worries over President Donald Trump’s tariffs, lifting expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.
Major indices spent the entire session in positive territory, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq finishing at fresh records.
“We’re in a bull market,” said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments. “The bulls are strong and getting stronger.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 1.1% at 44,458.61.
The broad-based S&P 500 also gained 1.1% to 6445.76, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.4% to 21,681.90.
The consumer price index rose 2.7% from a year ago in July, the same rate as in June.
– Additional reporting AFP
| « PGG Wrightson a stand-out on NZX 50 slides 1.2% to kick-off earnings season | NZ shares climb, Vulcan Steel leads as reporting season approaches » |
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