Asia
New Zealand Shares Fall; Infratil Agrees to Cut Stake in Contact Energy in Over NZ$495 Million Block Trade
New Zealand shares ended lower on Wednesday amid broad-based losses in Asian shares as inflation fears drove bond yields higher.The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 1.64% or 213.29 points to close at 12,761.03.The 10-year US Treasury rose to 4.663%, while the 30-year yield climbed to 5.182%.In domestic news, a total of 12,972 metric tonnes (MT) of products were sold during the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction held on Tuesday, with supply ranging from 12,245 MT to 16,233 MT, according to data from the trading platform.Further, New Zealand's housing market continued losing momentum in April, with sales volumes down 9% year on year and activity across the first four months of the year around 5% below the same period last year, Cotality NZ said in a report.Also, the mean one-year-ahead expected inflation in New Zealand was 5.6% in the June quarter, up from 5.2% in the previous quarter, while the perception of current inflation came in at 7.5%, according to a survey by the Reserve Bank of New ZealandMeanwhile, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is expected to make no change to the official cash rate on May 27, leaving it steady at 2.25%, with a 50/50 chance of a rate hike in July, ANZ said in a note.In corporate news, Infratil (ASX:IFT, NZE:IFT) agreed to sell 53.5 million shares in Contact Energy (ASX:CEN, NZE:CEN), representing 5% of the utility's issued share capital, via a fully underwritten block trade priced at NZ$9.25 per share, with the deal expected to raise about NZ$495.2 million.Vista Group International (ASX:VGL, NZE:VGL) has secured a six-year agreement with Cinepolis to transition its Mexican circuit to the Vista Cloud operational excellence platform.
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