“Inflation expectations have the steepest downward trend, but are still extremely elevated. The fall in the net proportion of firms expecting higher costs was particularly marked this month,” she said.
Greg Smith, head of retail with Devon Funds Management, said: “We are not yet popping the champagne cork but most of the data flow lately both here and overseas has been encouraging.
“Businesses and consumers are more optimistic given that inflation is easing and issues such as supply chains have freed up. But there are still challenges with a tight labour market and wage growth.”
Australia’s inflation has slowed to a 13-month low, with the May consumer price index rising 5.6 per cent, down from 6.8 per cent in April and below market forecasts of 6.1 per cent.
United States markets, however, were mixed after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell told a European Central Bank forum that the Fed will likely raise interest rates further. He doesn’t see inflation reaching the Fed’s target of 2 per cent “this year or next year”.
While the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 had small falls, the Nasdaq Composite climbed further, up 0.27 per cent to 13,591.75 points.
At home, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gained 41c or 1.71 per cent to $24.40; a2 Milk increased 8c to $5.29; Summerset Group added 27c or 2.86 per cent to $9.72; ANZ Bank collected 62c or 2.44 per cent to $26; and Warehouse Group improved 5c or 2.99 per cent to $1.72.
The energy sector had a strong day, increasing 1.39 per cent on the NZX index. Meridian was up 13c or 2.41 per cent to $5.53; Contact gained 12c to $7.98; Mercury added 13c or 2.04 per cent to $6.50; and Manawa gained 9c or 1.88 per cent to $4.89. Utilities investor Infratil was up 11.5c to $9.985.
Genesis Energy was down 3c to $2.71 after filling its $240m green capital bonds institutional offer at an interest rate of 6.5 per cent a year to the first reset date of July 10, 2028.
Napier Port gained 6c or 2.47 per cent to $2.49; Comvita was up 11c or 3.9 per cent to $2.93; Seeka increased 9c or 3.52 per cent to $2.65; and Gentrack rose 13c or 3.19 per cent to $4.20.
Carbon Fund rebounded 12c or 9.6 per cent to $1.37; Move Logistics rose 3c or 3.75 per cent to 83c; Vulcan Steel gained 27c or 3.2 per cent to $8.70; NZME was up 2c or 2.17 per cent to 94c; Foley Wines increased 3c or 2.54 per cent to $1.21; and Smartpay Holdings added 4.5c or 2.59 per cent to $1.785.
Vital Healthcare Property Trust was down 0.005c to $2.33 after telling the market it expects a property revaluation loss of $160m for the six months ending June, representing a 4.6 per cent decrease since the end of December. But it was cushioned by its Australian property.
Sixty per cent of Vital Healthcare’s portfolio is in Australia, which had a 2.8 per cent fall in valuation compared with the New Zealand property’s reduction of 7.4 per cent.
Mainfreight declined 50c to $70.99; Freightways decreased 9c to $8.31; Skellerup Holdings was down 98c or 2 per cent to $4.42; Vista Group shed 4c or 2.38 per cent to $1.64; Scott Technology decreased 10c or 3.17 per cent to $3.05; and Colonial Motor Company was down 22c or 2.49 per cent to $8.60.
Carpet maker Bremworth, up 1c to 40c, has now received partial insurance payments of $35.5m for the Cyclone Gabrielle damage to its Napier yarn spinning plant. Further assessments on the plant are taking place. Bremworth is sourcing independent yarn spinning and dyeing facilities to supply its Whanganui plant.
Marlborough Wine Estates, down 0.001c to 17.8c, has completed its 2023 harvest with volumes up 1.7 per cent on last year’s vintage and the winemaker is projecting net profit of $200,000-$300,000 compared with $320,000 in the 2022 financial year.
