The NZX 50 rose 58 points, or 0.4%, to close at 13,749 on Friday, reversing earlier losses and building on a modest advance in the previous session. Gains in consumer staples, industrials, and utilities underpinned the move, while weakness in financials, consumer discretionary, and communication services tempered the overall rise.
Investor sentiment remained cautious ahead of next week’s releases of New Zealand food inflation figures and business PMI data. Market participants were also focused on upcoming US inflation data for guidance on the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision, as well as China’s September consumer and producer price data, set against a backdrop of subdued domestic demand and higher oil prices.
A weak overnight performance on Wall Street, led by selling in technology stocks, further capped gains on the local market.
Among the notable movers were Delegat Group (up 3.7%), A2 Milk (2.2%), Gentrack Group (2.2%), Freightways Group (2.0%), Mainfreight (1.0%), and Fisher & Paykel (0.6%). Over the week, the NZX 50 added 0.5%, partially recovering from a decline in the prior week.
