New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index fell for a third day as stock markets across Asia remained on edge, with rising oil prices and bond yields overshadowing the overnight rally among US tech stocks. Mainfreight and Freightways were among the biggest drags on the local bourse.

Infratil extended its decline as data centre sentiment soured. South Korea’s Kospi dragged lower as data centre infrastructure firm Elice sank by as much as a third in its debut on the artificial intelligence-heavy exchange.

Power companies were mixed as Meridian Energy and Genesis Energy kicked off the annual meeting season, with the electricity generator-retailers talking up the nation’s drive to boost new generation.

And Gentrack jumped to a month-high after the utilities software developer secured Australia’s Momentum Energy as a new customer on its cloud-based g2 platform.

Three in a row

The NZX 50 declined 20.38 points, or 0.2%, to 13,631.69, with 31 stocks declining, 13 gaining and six unchanged. The S&P/NZX 20 index futures contract for December fell 0.4% to 7,460 with 50 lots traded for a value of $373,000, while the NZX 20 slipped 0.2% to 7,433.84.

Turnover across the main board was $113.4 million, of which Fisher & Paykel Healthcare accounted for $19.2 million, with the country’s biggest listed company gaining 0.6% to $49.09, a record close.

Stock markets across Asia ignored the stronger lead on Wall Street, where the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied ahead of major earnings from SpaceX, Meta Platforms and Tesla, with higher oil prices and rising government bond yields weighing on sentiment.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.1% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 1%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index declined 0.4% in late trading, with mining giant BHP weaker on a decline in copper production, while the banks were generally weaker as National Australia Bank announced plans to lay off 2,500 people over the next financial year.

“It’s been a hard day across Asian markets – oil has risen again, we’re waiting for AI stock results, the Houthis are at it, things aren’t good in Europe and then there’s Ukraine and Russia,” said Peter McIntyre, an investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners. “The whole list of geopolitical events happening right now is getting quite long.”

Logistics group Mainfreight was the biggest drag on the local market, falling 1.9% to $65.40, while courier firm Freightways declined 2.7% to $12.05, with Brent crude oil futures up 0.2% at US$109.80 a barrel at 5pm in Auckland.

Channel Infrastructure – typically a beneficiary when oil prices rise – dropped 4.1% to $3.26. Across the Tasman, ASX-listed Ampol extended its slump as delays to restarting its Lytton refinery outweighed wider margins.

Serko posted the steepest fall on the NZX 50, down 5.4% at $1.05, its lowest level since March 2020.

Still sliding

Infratil fell for a sixth day, down 1% at $12.10. South Korea’s Kospi sank 3.8% in late trading after Elice dropped as much as 33% in its debut, while SK Hynix was on track for its lowest close since April. ASX-listed NextDC was due to resume trading on Wednesday after its shares were halted on Monday while it weighed the impact of a delay to a planned data centre in Melbourne.

Gentrack jumped 8.9% to $4.43 after the software firm signed Momentum Energy to its g2 platform, supporting more than 200,000 meter points across Australia.

Fishing group Sanford gained 2.6% to $6 after Forsyth Barr analysts kept their ‘outperform’ rating and target price of $9.40 on the fishing group, saying the potential of bottom trawling regulation would have a modest impact if imposed.

Fletcher Building rose 0.9% to $3.24 on an unusually large volume of 4.7 million shares – the biggest for the day – ahead of its annual meeting on Wednesday.

Meridian increased 0.2% to $5.52 after chair Mark Verbiest told shareholders at today’s annual meeting that the company had built a team to attract international companies to New Zealand to help drive demand as new renewable generation gets built.

Genesis was unchanged at $2.38 after chair Barbara Chapman told shareholders she expected the upcoming election to shape how the nation’s electrification would play out in the near term, and affirmed earnings guidance.

Property companies were broadly weaker as the yield on 10-year government bonds rose 5 basis points to 5.06%.

Property For Industry slipped 0.6% to $2.17 after chief executive Simon Woodhams told shareholders at today’s annual meeting that almost half of upcoming lease expiries had been secured or were in active negotiations.

Kiwi Property Group fell 1.7% to 88.5 cents after the company said it would offer up to $150 million of seven-year green bonds, with a minimum interest rate of 5.55%.

Outside the benchmark index, Black Pearl Group climbed 6.4% to 25 cents after the software firm said it met its September quarter guidance for a narrower loss, and was targeting positive earnings by the June quarter of next year.

The kiwi dollar traded at 56.76 US cents at 5pm from 56.56 cents yesterday, with Statistics New Zealand’s September quarter inflation data on Thursday the local highlight for the week.

Reporting by Paul McBeth.