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.
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