NZ sharemarket falls over 1%

A cautious New Zealand sharemarket lost more than 1% following a fall on Wall Street, amidst nervousness about the high-flying technology stocks and the economy.

Tuesday, November 18th 2025, 6:22PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell at the opening and never recovered, shedding 156.22 points or 1.16% and closing at 13,342.82.

There were 103 decliners and just 34 gainers on the main board with 42.4 million shares worth $172.7m changing hands.

'Enough (economic) ammunition'

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said it was a risk-off day because of the wariness in the United States going into Nvidia’s latest quarterly result (released on Thursday morning NZ time).

The earnings and outlook will set the tone for both technology stocks and market direction. Nvidia, the giant chip maker, was down 1.88% to US$186.60 (NZ$330.33).

Solly said that with the US government out of lockdown, the market is receiving economic data, and there is concern about consumer confidence.

"Investors in the US are wondering whether there is enough (economic) ammunition to cut interest rates.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.18% or 557 points to 46,590.24; the S&P 500 was down 0.92% to 6,672.41; and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.84% to 22,708.07.

Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had fallen 1.98% to 8,465.4 points at 5.45pm NZ time.

Local stocks

At home, leading stocks Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 34c to $36.64; Infratil fell 27c or 2.27% to $11.60; Ebos Group declined 59c or 2% to $28.86; Spark decreased 6c or 2.62% to $2.23; and Auckland International Airport was down 13c to $7.77.

Freightways shed 21c to $13.67; Gentrack was down a further 22c or 2.86% to $7.47; Ryman Healthcare declined 9c or 3.16% to $2.76; and Port of Tauranga decreased 17c or 2.23% to $7.45.

In the energy sector, Meridian declined 16c or 2.69% to $5.79; Mercury was down 11c to $6.39; and Contact decreased 17c to $9.47.

In its October operating report, Contact recorded mass market electricity and gas sales of 385GWh compared with 320GWh in the same month last year.

Electricity generated or acquired was 1018GWh, up from 717GWh. Unit generation cost was $35.93 per MWh, down from $52.62.

There were solid updates from Serko, Sanford and Investore Property..

Solly said Serko’s share price rose 4% on a day when technology stocks were challenged, driven by a significant increase in completed room nights and the cost benefit of introducing AI to boost productivity.

“Sanford has strong cash flow and beat revenue and net profit estimates, while Investore has lower debt but higher maintenance costs,” he said.

Online travel company Serko was up 10c or 4.08% to $2.55 after reporting a 45% increase in revenue to $61.76m for the six months ending September.

Operating earnings were $6.1m, an improvement of $4.9m on the same period last year, and net loss was $9.5m, an 86% increase. The total spending to income ratio decreased from 106% to 97%.

The Booking.com for Business drove the result, with room nights up 32% to 2.1m. Serko confirmed its income guidance of $115m-$123m for the 2026 financial year and revised its total spend to $124m-$128m, from $127m-$133m.

Seaford company Sanford climbed 31c or 5.04% to $6.46 after reporting steady full-year revenue of $584.11m and a near 234% rise in net profit to $63.69m. It is paying a final dividend of 5c a share on Dec 8.

Operating earnings (ebit) increased 41.8% to $102.1m. Salmon contributed revenue of $127.5m, up 19.2%, and profit of $50.4m, up 23.2%; mussels $125.5m, down 6.4%, and $34.8m, up a record 150.4%; wildcatch a steady $318.9m and $52.4m, down 5.9%,

The company told the market that “the worldwide demand for protein continues to increase and provides tailwinds for Sanford”.

Investore, down 3.5c or 2.87% to $1.18, reported a 1.34% increase in revenue to $31.61m and a 32% rise in net profit to $12.78m for the six months ending September.

The net tangible assets (NTA) per share are $1.60, and the $1 billion bulk retail property portfolio has a 99% occupancy rate. Investore confirmed its full-year dividend guidance of 6.5c a share.

Eroad, down 0.005c to $1.54, is providing vehicle monitoring, reporting and compliance software solutions to Cleanaway Waste Management’s fleet of more than 3,000 owned trucks in Australia. The deal, initially for five years, will contribute A$5m (NZ$5.73m) to Eroad’s annual recurring revenue.

Comvita slid another 1c or 2.04% to $0.48, with director Zhu Guangping stepping down at the annual meeting on Dec 17. Comvita’s share price has fallen from $3 in late November 2023 and reached a low of 45.5c on July 3 this year.

Tags: Market Close