Asia Markets
New Zealand Shares Fall Amid Ceasefire Doubts After Israeli Attack on Lebanon; Kiwi Property Group Appoints CFO
New Zealand shares closed lower on Friday as investors remain worried about the durability of the Iran-US ceasefire after Israel attacked Lebanon.The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 0.7% or 92.37 points to close at 13,181.44."The US-Iran ceasefire led to a sharp recovery in Asian markets, but the risk-on sentiment got tested yesterday," said Rupal Agarwal, Asia quant strategist at Bernstein in Singapore, as quoted by Reuters."We believe this could be the beginning of the end and is presenting an opportunity for investors to focus on pre-war trends and fundamentals. We recommend adding back some beaten-down names," Agarwal added.In domestic news, the average weekly rent in March across Auckland for properties with over five bedrooms came in at about NZ$1,030, down 0.2% year over year, according to data from Barfoot & Thompson.Also, the fuel price in New Zealand is driven by a mix of global and domestic factors, including the price of crude oil in US dollars, refining margins, international freight, insurance costs, the New Zealand dollar exchange rate, as well as the cost of distributing fuel around the country, and other wholesaler and retailer costs and margins, ANZ Research saidFurther, New Zealand's manufacturing sector continued to expand in March, but momentum eased as sentiment weakened, with firms increasingly citing global uncertainty, including the war in Iran, as a growing headwind, BusinessNZ said.In corporate news, Kiwii Property Group (NZE:KPG) appointed Sarah Theodore as chief financial officer, effective late July.PaySauce's (NZE:PYS) annual recurring revenue (ARR) rose 6% year on year to NZ$8.9 million in the fiscal fourth quarter.
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