NZX50 falls for 2nd day as price intentions pose inflation question
Black Pearl posted its biggest daily gain since October on revenue growth.
Thursday, January 29th 2026, 5:51PM
by Paul McBeth
New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index fell for a second day as the latest ANZ business outlook survey showed growing plans by firms to hike their prices, raising concerns the Reserve Bank will have to lift the official cash rate this year and knocking commercial landlords such as Property for Industry and Argosy Property.
Inflation was already back on investors’ minds after Australia’s accelerating inflation raised the prospect of a rate hike across the Tasman, while Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s upbeat outlook on the US economy kept it top of mind for markets.
Meanwhile, Fletcher Building sank after Morgan Stanley analysts downgraded the building materials maker to ‘underweight’ and cut its target price over elevated competition facing the firm, with Vulcan Steel falling in tandem while Steel & Tube Holdings rallied.
And Black Pearl Group marked its biggest one-day gain since early October after more than doubling its annual recurring revenue in the December quarter in a mixed day for tech companies after Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Tesla reported in the US.
Still upbeat
The NZX50 fell 64.26 points, or 0.5%, to 13,348.61, with 26 stocks declining, 17 gaining, and seven unchanged. Turnover across the main board was $157.1 million, of which Fisher & Paykel Healthcare accounted for $27.6 million, as it nudged up 0.6% to $38.70.
The kiwi dollar climbed after the ANZ business outlook survey showed a net 57% of respondents expect to hike their prices the coming year, the highest level since March 2023, and stoking expectations the Reserve Bank might have to raise the official cash rate this year.
That followed the US Federal Reserve’s decision to keep the federal funds rate in a range of 3.5%-to-3.75%, with chair Jerome Powell saying the latest data indicated a stronger economy than in December and a more stable jobs market, which was seen as slowing the urgency for further cuts. The Fed has been balancing the tension between a soft labour market and sticky inflation.
The kiwi dollar rose to 60.81 US cents at 5pm in Auckland from 60.34 cents at 7am and was up from 60.16 cents yesterday.
“We’ve seen a recovery, but companies might be getting a little ahead of themselves pushing big price rises through,” said Greg Smith, investment specialist at Generate Investment Management. “If intentions become reality, maybe we see one or two rate hikes this year.”
Interest rate sensitive companies were among those pacing declines on the local exchange, with commercial landlords Property for Industry falling 3.5% to $2.23 and Argosy Property declining 1.7% to $1.17, while retirement village operators also weaker as Summerset Group Holdings slipped 1.4% to $11.33 and Ryman Healthcare decreased 1.1% to $2.83.
Shedding weight
Fletcher Building was also among those weighing on the index, dropping 3.4% to $3.75 after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to ‘underweight’ from ‘equal weight’ and cut its price target 7.7% to A$2.89, pointing to the strong competition facing the building materials firm’s units. Dual-listed Fletcher’s ASX-listed shares were down 4% at A$3.215 in late trading.
Vulcan Steel fell 4.1% to $8 on the NZX, while outside the benchmark, Steel & Tube Holdings advanced 3.8% to 68.5 cents.
SkyCity Entertainment Group led the NZX50 lower, falling 4.7% to 91 cents.
Local tech stocks were mixed after three of the Magnificent 7 megacap companies reported in the US, with Meta rallying in afterhours trading as the Facebook owner planned to almost double its spending on artificial intelligence investment, and Tesla advanced as it prepares to invest in chief executive Elon Musk’s xAI business.
Meanwhile, Microsoft dropped in afterhours trading when its cloud business missed frothy expectations.
Gentrack fell 1.9% to $7.70 and Vista Group International declined 0.5% to $1.94, while outside the benchmark index, Eroad fell 3.2% to $1.22.
Black Pearl Group jumped 8.3% to $1.105 in its biggest one-day gain since Oct 1 after the software firm more than doubled annual recurring revenue to $23.7 million in the December quarter.
IkeGPS declined 0.5% to $1.04 after the power pole analytics firm said platform subscription revenue grew 38% in the nine months ended Dec 31.
Tower posted the biggest gain on the NZX, up 2.9% at $1.94, while Hallenstein Glasson Holdings advanced 2.1% to $9.90 and Freightways increased 1.8% to $14.60.
Comvita gained 5.7% to 74 cents on a volume of 383,000 shares, its heaviest trading day since the wake of November’s special meeting last year when shareholders rejected a takeover bid by Mark Stewart’s Florenz business at 80 cents a share.
Precinct Properties NZ was the most heavily traded stock with a volume of 2.4 million shares, as it rose 0.4% to $1.14.
Paul is a staff writer for Good Returns based in Wellington.
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