NZ sharemarket down 0.2%

The New Zealand sharemarket was decidedly cautious as Westpac increased its longer-term mortgage rates and the Reserve Bank of Australia kept its cash rate on hold.

Tuesday, December 9th 2025, 7:01PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 had a steady morning but dipped in the afternoon and closed at 13,454.78, down 31.54 points or 0.23%.

There were 52 gainers and 82 decliners on the main board, with trading reaching 51.1 million share transactions worth $214.8m.

'Protecting their margins'

Greg Smith, investment specialist at Generate, said the market was talking about Westpac lifting two- to five-year home loan rates by 0.3%.

“I guess Westpac is saying the Reserve Bank cuts in the official cash rate (OCR) are done, and they are protecting their margins. It will be interesting to see if the other banks follow suit.”

Smith said the market has priced in a 20% chance of an OCR hike by May and a 40% chance of two hikes by October next year. Then again, the Reserve Bank has signalled a 20% chance of another cut.

“The interest rate situation was weighing on the market today. It is saying ‘we are done’, but there is still a real possibility that if the economy doesn’t blossom as much as it could, then we could see one more cut in February.”

Wholesale interest rates have risen sharply since the last OCR reduction late last month, and this has increased funding costs for fixed home loans. The Two-Year Government Bond rate has risen to 3.33% and the 10 Year to 4.5%.

Westpac, down 48c to $43.30 on the NZX, has cut its six-month special home loan rate to 4.69%, and has increased its longer-term deposit rates in line with the 0.3% rise in longer-term mortgages.

Across the Tasman, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) left its OCR unchanged at 3.6% because of the threat of rising inflation.

The RBA said recent data suggested the risks to inflation have tilted to the upside, but it would take a little longer to assess the persistence of inflationary pressures. It was appropriate to remain cautious.

The central bank said economic activity continued to recover, with growth in private demand strengthening, driven by both consumption and investment. Activity and prices in the housing market also continued to pick up.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 0.4% to 8,590 points at 6pm NZ time.

Local stocks

At home, leading stocks Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 13c to $38.06 on trade worth $25.7m; Ebos Group declined 25c to $27.44; Mercury decreased 11c or 1.7122% to $6.33; a2 Milk eased 15c to $10.27; and Summerset was down 19c to $11.94.

Other decliners were Vista Group falling 8c or 3.02% to $2.57 following a broker downgrade; Eroad decreasing 5c or 3.98% to $1.20; PGG Wrightson easing 4c or 1.82% to $2.16; and Santana Minerals shedding 4c or 4.4% to 87c.

Vulcan Steel fell 34c or 4.15% to $7.85; Vector was down 8c to $4.64; SkyCity declined 1.5c or 12.8% to 82c; and Allied Farmers shed 3.5c or 4.35% to 77c.

Sky TV rebounded 22c or 6.81% to $3.45 after Paramount Skydance Corp made a higher counteroffer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery at US$30 (NZ$51.81) a share following Netflix’s cash and shares takeover bid.

Smith said there would still be uncertainty if the Paramount bid were successful, but it might be less negative for Sky TV in terms of receiving content.

Gentrack also rebounded, rising 38c or 4.13% to $9.58; Auckland International Airport gained 10c to $8.09 on trade worth $32.1m; Tourism Holdings increased 4c to $2.64; Rakon rose 4c or 5.23% to $0.80; and 2 Cheap Cars was up 3c or 5.08% to 62c.

Tower, down 0.005c to $1.945, has been ordered by the High Court to pay $7m for the misapplication of multi-policy discounts totalling about $11m and involving 61,000 customers.

The Financial Markets Authority took the court action after Tower self-reported the issue. Both parties agreed that the misapplication was the result of failures in systems and processes, not management decisions.

Tower said the $7m penalty, recommended to the court, would have no impact on its full-year 2026 financial results. Payments to affected customers will total about $12m, including interest.

Booster Innovation Fund, unchanged at $1.43, has formed a partnership with Auckland UniServices to invest in early-stage businesses spun out by the university.

Booster is now linked to the commercial arms of three universities: Otago, Victoria in Wellington, and Auckland. Booster, with a fund worth $21.9m, has invested in nearly 40 startup businesses.

Tags: Market Close