New Zealand shares flat ahead of Fed rate meeting, Australia closed

Smartpay Holdings

25/01/2022 23:03

Jan 26 (Reuters) - New Zealand shares traded flat on
Wednesday, hovering near their 10-month lows as investors looked
to the U.S. Federal Reserve for signs of a quicker-than-expected
rate hike, with trading subdued owing to closure of Australian
equity markets.
    The benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index  .NZ50  was up 11.74 points
to 12,139.95 at 2228 GMT, lingering near its lowest level since
March 9 it touched on Monday. About 3.1 million shares changed
hands in early trade, compared with the 30-day average of 21.5
million.
    Markets in Australia  .AXJO  were closed for a public
holiday.
    Investors now await U.S. Federal Reserve's decision,
expected later in the day, which would likely flesh out timing
on expected rate hikes and dwindling of its massive balance
sheet.  .N   MKTS/GLOB 
    New Zealand has imposed restrictions https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/new-zealand-impose-restrictions-after-omicron-community-spread-2022-01-22
 starting this week limiting gathering after a cluster of nine
cases of the Omicron variant showed community transmission,
prompting a move to a red setting under its COVID-19 protection
framework.
    On Wednesday, electricity generator Meridian Energy  MEL.NZ 
and Ryman Healthcare  RYM.NZ  jumped 1.4% each, with Meridian
snapping a three-day losing streak.
    Air New Zealand  AIR.NZ  advanced as much as 1.8% to mark
its best intraday jump since Jan. 5, while infrastructure
investor Infratil Ltd  IFT.NZ  gained as much as 0.8% in its
second straight day of gains.
    Among losers, infant formula maker a2 Milk Co  ATM.NZ  fell
as much as 3.3% after advancing 6% in the previous session after
a media report flagged it could be a possible buyout target for
Canadian dairy firm Saputo Inc  SAP.TO .  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2U50UT
    Auckland International Airport  AIA.NZ  and SmartPay
Holdings  SPY.NZ  were also among the top weights on the
benchmark, declining 2% and 2.5%, respectively.

 (Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Lincoln
Feast.)
 ((Sameer.Manekar@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/sameer_manekar))
 
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