NZX50 gains, shrugging off Venezuela ouster in first trading day of 2026
Tower hits a 19-year high.
Monday, January 5th 2026, 6:24PM
by Paul McBeth
New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index was among stock markets shrugging off the US ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, with Infratil joining a tech-led rally across Asia as it led local gains.
Brent crude oil futures dipped after the US action, buoying national carrier Air New Zealand and weighing on energy stocks across the Tasman such as Beach Energy and Woodside Energy as the S&P/ASX 200 index dipped in late trading.
General insurer Tower carried on its strong form of recent years as it hit a 19-year high.
And the NZX’s pick of 2025, Third Age Health Services, gave up some of last year’s gains in the first session of 2026, while aged care operators Radius Residential Care and Oceania Healthcare were also on the red side of the ledger after the cyber security breach of the Manage My Health platform.
Back to work
The NZX50 rose 38.81 points, or 0.3%, to 13,587.23, with 24 stocks gaining, 23 declining, and three unchanged. Turnover across the main board was $108.4 million, of which Fisher & Paykel Healthcare accounted for $11.6 million as the country’s biggest listed company fell 0.2% to $37.67.
Infratil led the benchmark index higher, climbing 3.2% to $11.43, following tech stocks in South Korea and Japan higher amid growing expectations in Asia of robust demand for semiconductors, memory chips and advanced processors.
“They’d shown some weakness through the backend of December but are showing a bit more signs of life,” Hamilton Hindin Greene director Grant Williamson said of Infratil. “They do seem to follow the
US tech companies being so exposed to the data centre space.”
Asian markets were mixed in response to the US incursion to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and try him on narco-trafficking charges.
US President Donald Trump said his administration will run Venezuela until a transition can be made, and will open the doors for major oil companies to return to the energy rich nation to pump billions of dollars into the broken infrastructure to revive the industry.
Australia’s ASX200 index was down 0.1% in late trading, with oil and gas producers such as Beach Energy and Woodside Energy on the red side of the ledger as Brent crude oil futures dipped 0.3% to US$60.55 a barrel at 5pm in Auckland. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.7% in late trading, while Samsung Electronics drove a 2.7% gain for South Korea’s Kospi.
“There’s not really much of a reaction in oil markets,” Williamson said. “If Trump does get his way having US companies to fix infrastructure and production, we’re still talking years away.”
The kiwi dollar fell to 57.49 US cents at 5pm in Auckland from 57.69 cents at 7am, and down from 57.85 cents before the New Year holiday.
The good oil
National carrier Air New Zealand, which counts oil as a major input, gained 1.7% to 59 cents, while import terminal Channel Infrastructure advanced 0.7% to $2.94. Genesis Energy, which has a stake in the Kupe oil and gas field in the Taranaki basin, was unchanged at $2.40.
Among other gainers, Tower hit a 19-year higher $2.105, ending the day up 3% at $2.08. Williamson said the insurer has reduced the risk of its book in what’s been a dramatic turnaround for the company in recent years.
Meanwhile, SkyCity Entertainment Group advanced 1.1% to 91 cents after Skyline Enterprises agreed to sell its Christchurch Casino for an undisclosed sum to an Australian party. Skyline’s USX-listed shares were unchanged at $22.10.
Courier operator Freightways posted the biggest decline in the first day of the trading year, falling 2.8% to $14.05, while Vulcan Steel slipped 2.3% to $8.11 and apple exporter Scales Corp dropped 1.9% to $5.85.
Spark New Zealand was the most heavily traded stock on the day with a volume of 1.5 million as the telco dipped 0.4% to $2.27.
And outside the benchmark index, Third Age Health Services – the best performing stock on the NZX last year – dropped 6.8% to $5.11, while aged care operators Radius Resident Care fell 3.9% to 37.5 cents and Oceania Healthcare slipped 1.6% to 90.5 cents as health minister Simeon Brown ordered a review into the cyber security breach of the Manage My Health platform affecting as many as 1.8 million people’s private information. Green Cross Health was unchanged at $1.05.
Paul is a staff writer for Good Returns based in Wellington.
| « Holiday blues make for quiet end to NZX year | BlueScope bid spurs gains for Vulcan, Fletcher as NZX50 rises » |
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