NZX50, kiwi dollar gain as RBNZ holds cash rate in split decision

Infratil bounced from its stumble as brokers upgraded their targets.

Wednesday, May 27th 2026, 6:20PM

by Paul McBeth

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index and the kiwi dollar rallied after the Reserve Bank kept the official cash rate at 2.25% as expected in a split decision, where external appointments were pushing for an earlier hike than staff.

Interest rate sensitive companies were mixed, with Vector and Precinct Properties New Zealand on the red side of the ledger, while Vital Healthcare Property Trust and Stride Property among the day’s gainers, with Infratil providing the biggest tailwind as brokers upgraded the infrastructure investor after its strong annual result.

KMD Brands posted the biggest gain on the day after the retailer’s board said it’s hiring advisers to put the business under the microscope as it reported slower sales growth in the latest quarter.

Meanwhile, the dual-listed lenders ANZ Group Holdings and Westpac Banking Corp were at the bottom of the leaderboard as softer-than-expected inflation figures across the Tasman still showed signs of cost pressures on businesses.

Still on the rise

The kiwi dollar rose to 58.76 US cents at 5pm in Auckland from 58.49 cents yesterday after the Reserve Bank kept the OCR on hold in a split decision, and calling on governor Anna Breman’s casting vote as chair of the monetary policy committee.

Still, all six committee members agreed the benchmark rate would need to increase at future meetings and the forecast track of the OCR indicated at least two hikes by the end of the year.

“The OCR decision today was a closer-run thing than we had expected, but it confirms our expectation that the OCR will be lifted 25 basis points in July, and very likely in September and October as well,” ANZ New Zealand chief economist Sharon Zollner said in a note. “Beyond that point, while the RBNZ’s current best pick is that they will need to hike once more, to 3.25%, it is very early days.”

The NZX50 climbed 158.07 points, or 1.2%, to 13,227.81, with 31 stocks gaining, 17 declining and two unchanged. The S&P/NZX 20 index futures contract for June gained 1.2% to 7,495 with 231 lots traded for a value of $1.7 million. The NZX20 rose 1.3% to 7,507.13.

Turnover across the main board was $173.1 million, of which Infratil accounted for $31.4 million as the infrastructure investor rose 5.5% to $16 after Morgans, UBS and Forsyth Barr analysts raised their target price on the stock.

Forsyth Barr analysts Ben Crozier, Aaron Ibbotson and Sam Power raised their target price to $18.90 from $17.50 and kept their ‘outperform’ rating on the stock, saying the firm’s annual result was largely in line with expectations, even if it didn’t provide more colour on potential new contracts for the CDC data centre business.

“Over the next 12 months, we expect further CDC contract wins and an update on Longroad’s data centre plans,” the Forsyth Barr analysts said in a note to clients.

Among the other heavyweights, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose 2.4% to $37.60, Auckland International Airport increased 0.2% to $8.30 and Meridian Energy dipped 0.2% to $5.89.

Ups and downs

Interest rate sensitive property companies were mixed after the Reserve Bank’s decision, with Stride Property gaining 1.3% to $1.165, Vital Healthcare advancing 1.1% to $1.875 and Investore Property increasing 1% to $1.05, while Precinct dipped 1.9% to $1.015, Kiwi Property fell 1.1% to 91.5 cents and Goodman New Zealand slipped 0.5% to $1.94. Regulated utility Vector fell 1% to $5.01.

KMD posted the biggest gain on the day, up 14%, or 0.9 of a cent, to 7.4 cents with 8.9 million shares changing hands – the biggest volume for the day. The retailer said third-quarter sales slowed, and that it was planning to review the business to improve returns for shareholders.

Briscoe Group, a small shareholder of KMD, gained 1.9% to $4.40.

Vista Group International jumped 9.1% to $2.51, a four-and-a-half-month high, after signing Cinemex’s Mexican chain to its cloud product.

Scales Corp gained 0.5% to $6.15 after reaffirming guidance, with its Mr Apple unit picking more fruit than expected.

ANZ posted the biggest decline on the day, down 3.4% at $43.34, while Westpac fell 2.3% to $44, with the Australian banks broadly weaker on the other side of the Tasman after Bureau of Statistics figures showed businesses were still grappling with cost pressures.

That inflation reading was softer than anticipated, prompting economists to pull back their forecasts for the Reserve Bank of Australia to hike as aggressively as previously thought, and the kiwi dollar rose to 82.06 Australian cents from 81.70 cents yesterday.

Markets across Asia were mixed, with Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index up 0.3% in late trading and Japan’s Nikkei 225 advancing 0.4%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.8%.

Outside New Zealand’s benchmark index, PaySauce was unchanged at 23.5 cents after reporting flat earnings on a 3% lift in revenue.

Bremworth dropped 5.4% to 70 cents after the Commerce Commission again pushed out its decision on whether to approve a sale of the carpetmaker’s business to Mohawk Industries, the owner of rival Godfrey Hirst. Bremworth has started talking to Mohawk to extend the timeframe for their deal, which terminates on Aug 7.

AoFrio gained 8.1%, or 0.6 of a cent, to 8 cents after launching a rights issue to raise $5 million at 7 cents a share to fuel its growth aspirations, and reiterating its expectations for increased earnings and revenue this year at today’s annual meeting.

Metro Performance Glass rose 1.8% to $1.12 after narrowing its annual loss and increased operating cash flow as the glass products maker repositions away from volume-led manufacturing model.

Paul is a staff writer for Good Returns based in Wellington.

Tags: Market Close