On Friday, New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 index experienced a decline of 1.15%, closing at 13,043, and thereby ending a two-day upward trend. This downturn was largely influenced by significant losses in SkyCity Entertainment, whose shares dramatically dropped by 29% following a trading halt of two days. This was after Thursday's announcement revealing a substantial decrease in its annual underlying earnings. Widespread selling pressure was observed among major stocks, including Fisher & Paykel, which fell by 2.1%, Auckland International Airport down by 1.9%, Infratil decreasing by 1.2%, Mercury NZ dropping by 2.1%, Contact Energy down by 1.0%, and Spark NZ, which saw a decrease of 0.6%.
In contrast, Fonterra's shares soared by 19.5% after New Zealand's largest dairy company disclosed its decision to sell its global consumer and related businesses to the French company Lactalis. Meanwhile, on the global stage, investors were keenly awaiting a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole symposium for insights on potential U.S. interest rate cuts within the year. Despite Friday’s decline, the NZX 50 achieved a weekly gain of 1.2%, marking its third consecutive weekly increase.
