Asia
New Zealand Shares Flat; NZX Appoints Acting CFO
New Zealand shares ended flat with a negative bias on Wednesday after a lower Wall Street close impacted by a hotter-than-expected US inflation report.The S&P/NZX 50 Index was little changed to close at 13,063.06.On Tuesday, the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.7%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.2%, while the Dow Jones managed to add 0.11%.The US Consumer Price Index gained 3.8% year on year in April, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed.New Zealand will maintain tight control over day-to-day spending in this year's budget while boosting capital investment to improve infrastructure, defense, and energy security, according to a Wednesday Reuters report, citing Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's speech on Wednesday.In domestic news, Expectations for New Zealand's one-year-ahead annual consumer price index (CPI) inflation increased by 82 basis points to 3.41% from 2.59% in the June quarter, according to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's (RBNZ) survey.Also, high-frequency data pointed to slowing momentum across services industries and households in New Zealand as the conflict in the Middle East leaves global oil markets tight, and shipping costs and refining margins elevated, ANZ said in its Quarterly Economic Outlook report.Further, the outlook for New Zealand's economy has shifted now to another year of "positive but still sub-par growth" at 1.5% in the wake of the conflict in the Middle East, due to which oil and refined fuel prices have risen, with real petrol and diesel prices now at a 50-year high, Westpac said.Meanwhile, a total of 3,019 metric tonnes (MT) of products were sold during the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) pulse auction held Tuesday, with supply ranging from 2,700 MT to 3,050 MT, according to data from the trading platform.In corporate news, NZX (NZE:NZX) appointed Deputy Chief Financial Officer Amy Trotman as acting CFO, effective immediately.Pacific Edge (ASX:PEB, NZE:PEB) secured NZ$25.4 million through an oversubscribed share placement priced at NZ$0.17 apiece, representing a 2.3% discount to the closing price on May 8.
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