NZ sharemarket drops on more AI worries on Wall Street
The New Zealand sharemarket was down again as investors remained steady following a strong gross domestic product update for the September quarter from Stats NZ.
Thursday, December 18th 2025, 6:49PM
by BusinessDesk
The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 0.29% or 39.14 points to 13,256.77 after 43.6 million shares, worth $161.2m, were traded.
The S&P/NZX 20 index was down 0.35%, closing at 7,537.39 points, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 12,590.32 after falling 0.43%.
There were 48 gainers on the main board and 78 decliners.
NZ market follows soft US
Craigs Investment Partners investment director Mark Lister said the market was largely following the soft international leads from Wall Street.
“You’re obviously seeing investors rotate out of some of those high-flying tech and AI stocks that have done so well for such a long time,” Lister said.
“There seems to be a bit of a rotation out of those companies into other parts of the market. Because those businesses are so dominant, as people look to rebalance and go into other sectors, that’s always going to weigh on sentiment headline indices.”
Fonterra drops price
Fonterra began the day by announcing it was cutting the midpoint of its 2026 farmgate milk price forecast to $9 per kilogram of milk solids from $9.50/kg.
Lister said it wasn’t long ago that it had a midpoint forecast of $10.
“It’s not the end of the world. If you look over the last 25 years, that would still be the third highest, so it’s far from a disaster.”
Fonterra’s share price lifted 1.52% or 12c per unit to $8.34 after 102,263 shares changed hands worth $849,324.84.
Infratil dips
Infratil had its share price fall for another day, 1.83% or 20c to $10.70, on turnover of $15.1m.
Fisher and Paykel Healthcare also had another negative day, down 0.91% or 34c to $36.91.
Freightways gains traction
Freightways and Mainfreight both contributed positively, with Freightways lifting 0.64% or 9c to $14.20, while Mainfreight lifted 0.59% or 40c to $67.75.
“Freightways is one of your stereotypical cyclical stocks, and one that’s quite leveraged to the state of the economy. If the economy’s going to recover, then Freightways is going to be in a better space.”
Lister said the latest gross domestic product (GDP) update was good, and is another piece of evidence that the next likely move from the Reserve Bank will be to lift the official cash rate.
“The market is still right now pricing in close to two hikes in 2026, which is a big turnaround from where they were at before.
“I think the market strongly believes that the bottom is behind us, the economy is recovering, and that momentum will continue into 2026.”
International news
Wall Street stocks were mixed early on Wednesday as markets weighed lingering questions about lofty equity valuations and monetary policy against seasonal trading dynamics.
December is usually a strong month for stocks, but in recent days, equities have grappled with worries about huge gains in artificial intelligence stocks and concerns that the Federal Reserve won’t cut interest rates again soon.
Those worries were compounded on Wednesday by a report that private capital group Blue Owl had pulled out of market giant Oracle’s $10 billion data centre, casting doubt on the project.
Oracle plunged more than 5% on Wednesday, while Broadcom and other sector heavyweights, including Nvidia, Alphabet and Advanced Micro Devices, also tumbled.
The Nasdaq on Wall Street dived 1.8%, and the broader S&P 500 was off more than 1%.
– Additional reporting AFP
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