Asia
New Zealand Shares Fall; Genesis Energy Posts Lower Fiscal Q3 Retail Electricity Sales
New Zealand shares ended lower on Thursday as most Asian indexes saw losses after shipping worries continued around the Strait of Hormuz.The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 0.47% or 60.67 points to close at 12,884.93.Iran seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz, tightening its control over the strategic waterway after US President Donald Trump said he was indefinitely suspending attacks, with no indication that peace negotiations would resume, according to a Thursday Reuters report."Markets look very on edge here. We are still in a no-war, no-peace zone, and that means even an unverified scare of escalation can jolt oil and knock risk assets lower," said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo, as quoted by Reuters.In domestic news, Moody's has revised its outlook on New Zealand's AAA credit rating to negative from stable in a move that again signals a need for checks on spending and borrowing, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said.Further, credit card spending in New Zealand increased by 0.7% month on month to NZ$4.87 billion in March after a 0.1% increase in the previous month, while credit card balances fell 0.5% to NZ$6.08 billion in March, data from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand showed.Also, sales volumes continued to decline across New Zealand's housing market for the third consecutive month in March, down 2.4% year-over-year, Cotality saidIn corporate news, Genesis Energy (ASX:GNE, NZE:GNE) reported total retail electricity sales of 1,380 gigawatt-hours (GWh) for the fiscal third quarter ended March 31, down from 1,474 GWh in the same quarter a year earlier.Comvita (NZE:CVT) launched a pro-rata renounceable rights offer to raise up to NZ$30 million to support bank refinancing.
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