Attention goes offshore as New Zealand sharemarket steady
In trade news, the United States and Japan reached a deal that included lowering President Donald Trump's tariffs on Japan's crucial car sector.
The US lowered tariffs on some Japanese goods to 15%, down from the threatened 25%. In return, Japan pledged to invest US$550 billion in the US, Trump said on social media.
Devon Funds Management head of retail Greg Smith said markets would be watching Trump's visit to the US Federal Reserve with interest, considering it's the first time in nearly two decades a sitting president has made the visit.
'It's more pressure for [Federal Reserve chairman] Jerome Powell. Markets have been aware of that, but then they've dismissed it as Trump has said he's got no plans to fire him,' Smith said.
As for the earning season in the US, Google parent Alphabet reported quarterly profits that topped expectations, while Elon Musk's Tesla saw its revenue fall 12% – the sharpest decline in at least a decade.
'They're still copping a lot of competition from companies with more affordable EVs, then you've got the effect of boycotts on Tesla. It's been a pretty bad performance this year.
'Maybe there might be a bit more focus from Elon Musk.'
Looking back home, Smith said Google's performance in cloud and data centre technologies could benefit Infratil, which operates as a landlord for some data centres in New Zealand.
Infratil's share price rose 2c or 0.18% to $11.19 after 582,097 shares traded hands to the value of $6,533,194.59.
Elsewhere, Air New Zealand rose half a cent or 0.86% to 58.5c on high volume, with 1,981,843 shares trading hands.
Ebos Group also rallied 98c or 2.46% after $5,658,363.95 worth of shares were traded, lifting its price to $40.76.
International markets
Wall Street stocks advanced on Wednesday with the Dow logging strong gains and the S&P 500 closing at a record for the third time in a row.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.1% to 45,010.29 while the broad-based S&P 500 Index bounced 0.8% to 6358.91.
The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.6% to 21,020.02.
The gains came after Trump announced on Tuesday that Washington had reached tariff agreements with Japan and the Philippines, and as officials signalled optimism in trade talks with the European Union.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz voiced optimism that EU and United States negotiators are making progress in talks to resolve a transatlantic trade row.
Several EU diplomats also said the bloc was examining a US proposal involving a baseline tariff of 15% and sectoral carve-outs still to be decided.
– Additional reporting AFP
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
18 minutes ago
- NZ Herald
On the Up: The Dunedin tech start-up taking on the world's sport data
About six and a half years ago, I started a data consulting business. Through that business, I started working with high performance at New Zealand Rugby. We went with them on a journey moving from spreadsheets into a data visualisation tool, and then working off a data platform. I was working with the All Blacks and then the Super franchises, which led me to working with the Highlanders. Andy [Watts, Axon Perform product lead] was the performance analyst, so we were doing a lot of work together. Andy contacted me prior to the 2023 Rugby World Cup while I was working with Japan and said, 'I love this and I'm going to get out of rugby, how do I get into this?' That was really the start of this turning into something that every team needs. Axon Perform compiles data from several providers into one collective platform to give sports teams actionable insights for their players. One example shown here features the Blues' kicking performance during this year's Super Rugby season. What goes into the reports the platform produces? There are a number of third-party providers that teams will use for game analytics; primarily, we use one called Opta. The teams subscribe to Opta, and then the data gets sent to us. Each team will have their own subscription based on what competitions and players they want to follow, whether that's the Japanese Top 14, Super Rugby or the international competitions. There's a huge amount of data, but data is useless without insight. We bring that all into one place. The actual analytical piece at the end, the reports, they've evolved over the last five years, and probably more so in the last 18 to 24 months since we've been selling as a platform. You work with a number of rugby teams already. What are the opportunities going forward? We currently work with the British & Irish Lions, the Springboks, and the Sydney Roosters in the NRL. We also recently picked up the English men's and women's 15s teams, and we've got a number of other international and club teams trialling the product. There are only so many teams in rugby that we can work with, because globally it's not that big. We're currently working towards launching in football, which is quite exciting. We've been building out core template models that will allow us to present something to the market so they can see what we're delivering very soon. Did you fund the business yourself, and do you plan on raising capital for any expansions? Very self-funded so far, and we'll be taking on investment in the near future, once we have the level of traction that we want. No numbers yet, but I've got an idea of what I'd like it to be. There are a lot of factors when you're raising money, obviously around valuation and how much percentage of the business you want to give away. There are a lot of permutations and a lot of things that we need to make sure we've achieved before we get to that point. In the technology space, we're really talking about what's the potential value of it in five to 10 years. Axon Perform's solution is used by the rugby world champion Springboks, the British & Irish Lions, and the NRL's Sydney Roosters. Photo / Photosport What has been the biggest challenge in starting the business? Money's always a challenge; it's always trying to do things on the smell of an oily rag. But when I first started my consulting business, it was very much built on relationships, and it's been very similar with the sports stuff as well. I've built everything to this point on relationships, but now it's about moving to the next stage, and that's going into the market where you don't know people and encouraging them to become customers. That's the new challenge. What would be your advice to other budding entrepreneurs wanting to start a business? I think the advice for people that are trying to get into entrepreneurship or into business is to build a community first. Get out there and challenge yourself to become known on social media. Marketplaces like LinkedIn and Instagram don't reduce you to your local environment. If you can get out there, expose yourself and let people get to know you first, then the chances of building relationships and building networks get easier. Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.
Otago Daily Times
an hour ago
- Otago Daily Times
Signs meat plant may be revived
A Gore meat processing plant that closed due to financial woes appears to have been bought back by one of its previous co-owners and there are signs of life on the property. Origin Corporation Ltd, co-owned by Canterbury businessman Arato Tsujino and Auckland investor Guanxiong Liu, went into liquidation last December. The company's subsidiary, Blue Sky Meats (Gore) Ltd, owned an abattoir in River St, Gore, that was shut down following the company's liquidation. Mr Tsujino was known for his involvement in the Wagyu beef industry in New Zealand. At least 16 of his companies went into liquidation last year due to financial problems. It was previously reported that Simon Dalton, of Gerry Rea Partners, appointed liquidator of Blue Sky Meats (Gore), had sold the works after a competitive tender process. In June, Mr Dalton said the company that purchased the Gore leasehold and plant was River Street Ltd, which was directly linked to Mr Liu. The past general manager of Blue Sky Meats (Gore), Matthew Ferguson, has been appointed the new manager of RS Meats Ltd, a meat processing business also directly linked to Mr Liu. Mr Ferguson declined to comment on the new operation. A yellow digger and some workers were seen on the site in the past week, in what looked like construction work on the old plant. Blue Sky Meats (Gore) bought the facility from longstanding Southland meat processor Blue Sky Pastures in 2021. The 2021 buyer then processed its Japanese Wagyu beef through the plant. The company promoted its Wagyu beef as a perfect combination of New Zealand's lush grass, high-quality grain, pure water and clean air, along with traditional Japanese farming techniques. The techniques included giving the cattle massages and playing soothing music. The cattle were grazed for their first two years on farms throughout the country before being finished on grain at a ''state-of-the-art'' barn in Rakaia. The meat was processed at the Gore plant. It ran into problems with Covid-19 and lack of demand from China as costs mounted. New Zealand Meat Workers' Union senior organiser Bob Blackie said he understood there were about 30 workers, all on individual contracts and some casual, who were let go about Christmas last year He said following last year's liquidation the employees were paid redundancy but were awaiting the insolvency process and a potential new owner for their holiday pay.
Otago Daily Times
an hour ago
- Otago Daily Times
Warning US tariff ‘jungle' regrowing
Special agricultural trade envoy Hamish Marr explains the impact of United States President Donald Trump's tariffs on New Zealand exporters. PHOTO: TIM CRONSHAW A trade expert warns the tariff "jungle" is growing back as nations grapple with United States President Donald Trump's fast approaching tariff deadline. Many US trade partners face hefty tariff increases in the fallout, including close allies such as Japan and Korea. Mr Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs have New Zealand exporters watching how it will play out for them, their trading partners and the wider marketplace on the August 1 deadline. Another concern is that Mr Trump's trade policy might encourage more nations to step up protectionism. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's trade and economic deputy secretary Vangelis Vitalis told meat professionals at the Red Meat Sector Conference in Christchurch last week the uncertainty was a real challenge for exporters looking to trade with the US. He said nobody really knew what was happening in day-to-day international policy. Research showed trade uncertainty was worth the equivalent of at least a 10% to 12% tariff, he said, "The jungle is definitely growing back. We do face a really challenging and turbulent external environment and it's not just the US, although that's a major factor at the moment for uncertainty," Mr Vitalis said. ''The challenges are real, all of the big players are thinking whether these [free trade agreement] rules work for them any more and we place a premium on these rules." A baseline tariff applies to almost every nation, including New Zealand, of 10%, with auto parts at a 25% tariff and aluminium 50%. The 10% tariff is on top of existing tariffs — such as the about 16%-18% New Zealand exporters already face sending frozen vegetables to the US. "Over the last two to three weeks the president has been announcing additional tariffs, he's extended the pause to August 1 and so we know a whole series of tariffs may be imposed at that time, although we also know the president does tend to extend those delays as well so, again, lots of uncertainty." He said the known certainties were the US was striking some deals — including with Vietnam, eliminating all of its tariffs in exchange for a 20% tariff. Some countries not concluding deals had the threat of additional tariffs being placed on them, including 25% on Japan and Korea, while and Brazil was being hit with a 50% tariff on the deadline. Mr Vitalis said the concern for all nations facing a 10% tariff was this might increase to 15%-20%. That would really concern NZ wine, red meat and other exporters, he said. He said a lot of official engagement was being carried out in Washington to talk to counterparts and listen closely to build a picture of Mr Trump's trade direction. "Again we don't actually know what he's going to do, but he's certainly suggesting there are going to be further increases out there." Mr Vitalis said ministerial leaders and officials were taking a structured, calm and thorough approach to the coming challenges. New Zealand wanted to protect its interest in the US as it was our second most important export destination, and the tension between it and China was being followed closely, he said The option he favoured for the global trade turbulence was to negotiate new free trade agreements and expand existing agreements, as explaining the logic of global economic damage from tariffs was not working. Another focus of New Zealand's strategy was pushing back against non-tariff barriers, worth an estimated $22.6b in the Asia/Pacific region alone, and protectionism, he said. Dairy giant Fonterra was modelling trade implications from tariff hikes and the dynamics between the US and China. Fonterra trade strategy manager Justine Aroll said the uncertain trading marketplace was the new normal for the co-op, which exports to 100 markets globally. One of the silver linings was agricultural exporters were familiar with a protectionist and challenging trade environment and had built up resilience in their businesses, she said. "Like other New Zealand exporters our product is facing the additional 10% tariff into the US and for us we are finding our way through that." A concern was the disruption to the global dairy market, the reaction of other countries and the implication of US deals with other countries, she said. Special agricultural trade envoy Hamish Marr said uncertainty was the new certainty. "We have been living in a world of globalisation for many years and now it seems we are not in globalisation — we are in regionalisation." Countries were more focused on food security and New Zealand's strong reputation would mean it was well positioned to navigate through the uncertain times, he said. NZ International Business Forum executive director Felicity Roxburgh said governments around the world were shifting from economics to security for supply chains and critical materials, including red meat.
