NZ shares shrug off Middle East tensions; Infratil gains
The S&P/NZX 50 Index increased 34.18 points, or 0.3 percent, to 11,627.32. Within the index, 16 stocks rose, 24 fell, and 10 were unchanged. Turnover was $110.8 million, with trading relatively quiet in the first day back from the Christmas and New Year holiday period.
Stocks across Asia were largely weaker as investors digested the heightened rhetoric between the US and Iranian administrations after last week's fatal drone attack on Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index dropped 1.9 percent in afternoon trading, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was flat and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.7 percent.
The escalating tensions drove government bond yields lower, making the reliable dividends available on New Zealand’s stock market more attractive. The local market got a late boost heading into the close as blue-chip stocks offering reliable dividends remained in demand.
Matt Goodson, managing director at Salt Funds Management, said he was surprised the NZX hadn’t followed the global markets as closely. But trading was quiet and New Zealand’s stock market was sensitive to bond yield movements.
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