NZX50 sinks as Gentrack tumbles on earnings downgrade; Mainfreight stumbles

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index snapped a four-day rally as Gentrack shed a third of its value after the software company cut its earnings outlook and said it plans to buy back shares on market, which are trading near three-year lows.

Mainfreight was among the bigger drags on the NZX50 as oil prices shot up amid the heightened tensions between the US and Iran and as Amazon unveiled a new service to businesses wanting to tap into its global logistics network.

Westpac Banking Corp declined as Australian financial stocks remain unloved, with the big red bank joining rivals ANZ Group Holdings and National Australia Bank in beefing up its credit provisioning in case the Middle East conflict tips the trans-Tasman nations into recession and drives up bad debts.

And the kiwi dollar held its decline against its trans-Tasman counterpart after the Reserve Bank of Australia hiked its target cash rate a quarter-point as expected in its quest to tame inflation.