New Zealand Shares Rise as Tariff Turbulence Eases
Havivah HarmonNew Zealand shares rose on Tuesday after global recession fears eased on hopes that Donald Trump might be willing to negotiate with trade partners.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 0.98% or 115.56 points to close at 11,891.44.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a further 50% tariff on China if the country does not withdraw its retaliatory levies.
"We have many, many countries that are coming to negotiate deals with us and they're going to be fair deals. And in certain cases, they're going to be paying substantial tariffs. There'll be fair deals," Reuters quoted Trump as saying.
At home, Christian Hawkesby has been appointed as Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand for a term of six months while the search for a permanent governor remains ongoing.
Also, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said there will be no change to the country's fiscal plans despite the global economic turbulence caused by the Trump administration's tariff policies.
"Put simply, the past week's global developments make our recovery harder. These factors will also impact the government books with potential impacts for revenue, debt, inflation, and interest rates," said Willis.
In the local economy, New Zealand's national residential property values rose by an average of 0.2% in the three months to March, according to the latest QV House Price Index.
Meanwhile, Business confidence improved in the first quarter, with firms showing increased optimism about economic prospects, according to the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research's Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion (QSBO).
A net 23% of firms expect general economic conditions to improve in the coming months, compared with a net 9% in the previous quarter.
In corporate news, Westpac Banking ,, has added Tongan, Samoan, and Hindi to its automatic teller machine (ATM) language options in New Zealand, alongside existing options like English, Mandarin, and Te Reo Maori.
Summerset Group Holdings ,, sold 290 occupation rights in the first quarter, up 14% year on year.
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