NZX 50 rises 0.4% as utilities, staples rebound
New Zealand’s NZX 50 gained 56 points, or 0.4%, to 13,779 in Tuesday morning trade, lifting off its lowest level since July 21 as real estate and consumer staples rebounded after a plunge.
New Zealand's stocks rose 56 points, or 0.4%, to 13,779 in Tuesday morning trade, erasing losses from the previous session, mainly supported by gains in real estate, utilities, and consumer staples.
The broader index moved up from its lowest level since July 21, touched a day earlier amid a plunge in consumer staples.
Traders engaged in bargain hunting, with real estate (+1.0%) and consumer staples (+0.6%) rebounding after plunging in the previous session.
Monday's data continued to lift sentiment as food inflation eased to a 19-month low while credit card spending rebounded.
However, a downbeat session on Wall Street overnight due to escalating Middle East tensions limited gains ahead of the release of the FOMC meeting minutes later this week.
Among the early losers were Gentrack Group (-1.5%), ANZ Group (-0.9%), A2 Milk (-0.5%), and Mainfreight (-0.4%).
Meanwhile, Mercury NZ rose 1.6% after Mercury Energy posted a jump in operating earnings for the 12 months ended June.