Mainfreight leads NZX50 higher as Willis plays down fuel framework

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index was one of the better performers in a mixed day across Asia, with Mainfreight and Freightways among the day’s gainers as finance minister Nicola Willis played down any changes in the fuel alert levels when she outlines the framework for imposing restrictions on Friday.

Infratil provided a tailwind to the bourse as the infrastructure investor hit a four-and-a-half month high after upgrading the 2027 earnings outlook for its CDC data centres unit, even as it played down expectations for what it will report in the year ending March 31.

Meanwhile, Air New Zealand defied a downgraded target price by Forsyth Barr analysts, with Australian carrier Qantas Airways seen as feeling the pinch most keenly in the South Pacific, having pared back NZ flights from its budget Jetstar subsidiary.

And Hallenstein Glasson Holdings rallied ahead of its first-half result on Friday in what’s set to be a busy day for retailers, with Warehouse Group also due to report and KMD Brands expected to complete the institutional part of its capital raising and reveal its own delayed earnings.