NZ sharemarket flat despite export growth, Fletcher Building down again

The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed down 0.052% or 6.52 points, falling to 12,460.96, with 33 million shares changing hands to the value of $128.7m.

The S&P/NZX 20 index closed at 7,306.59, down 0.12%, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 1860.70, a fall of 0.19%.

There were 84 gainers and 55 decliners on the main board.

Fletcher Building tumbles

Fletcher Building’s share price continued to tumble after finishing down 3.6% on Tuesday and down on Wednesday 2.02% to $2.91 with 1m shares changing hands to the value of $2.9m.

At its investor day, Fletcher’s said it expected restructuring and impairment costs to total between $573m and $781m in the year to June 30.

Hamilton Hindin Greene investment adviser Jeremy Sullivan said the economy was taking longer to recover than the likes of Fletcher would like.

“It’s going to make the market have higher wholesale rates, and of course, that relates to comparatively lower share prices for the interest rates in the stocks, which is most of our market,” Sullivan said.

Rise in exports

Elsewhere, Stats NZ data revealed a rise in goods exports of $676m (9.7%) to $7.7 billion in May 2025 compared to May 2024.

Goods imported conversely fell by $499m (7.2%), to $6.4b, delivering a monthly trade surplus of $1.2b.

“Of course, milk powder was up 18%, butter and cheese were up $332 million or 18% making up the largest component of our trade balance.

 “Arguably, some one-offs on the import side of our trade data with aircraft parts down 74%.

Air New Zealand, being the largest aggregator of that sector, is having its fair share of issues with Whitney and Boeing engines.” 

South Port buoyant

The data also tied nicely with an update from South Port NZ, which upgraded its full-year earnings guidance.

Due to higher-than-expected bulk and containerised volumes being handled late in the last quarter, the business now expects its full-year earnings for FY25 to exceed $12.5m, a $2.2m upgrade on its previous forecast range of $9.3m to $10.3m.

Shares in South Port rose 4.76% to $6.60, up 30c, with 9,374 shares traded to the value of $60,632.58.

Briscoe down – again

Meanwhile, Briscoe Group reported its fourth fall in a row since being inducted into the NZX50.

“You look at the volumes, there’s just shy of $15 million worth of stock that changed hands on the 19th of June.Today it’s been $20,000, so the volumes just dried up.

“Nothing’s changed with the company, it’s just we’ve got a liquid market, and when things get pushed around from index inclusions or exclusions, that can distort stock prices, and this is just a classic example of it.” 

Shares in Briscoe Group fell 2.65% to $5.50, down 15c, with 11,655 shares traded to the value of $64,447.14.

The world

Wall Street stocks jumped on Tuesday as an Iran-Israel ceasefire appeared to hold through its first day and oil prices continued their retreat.

Major indices spent the entire day in positive territory with both Iran and Israel refraining from new attacks after a barrage of last-minute strikes.

With the “de-escalation, the market seems to be doing better”, said Art Hogan, chief market strategist of B. Riley Wealth, who also described Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s testimony before Congress as constructive for equities.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 1.2% at 43,089.02. The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 1.1% to 6,092.18, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.4% to 19,912.53.