The NZX 50 climbed 78 points, or 0.6%, reaching 13,412 during Monday morning’s trade, hitting its highest level since December 11. This increase was mainly driven by gains in financials, healthcare, and tech sectors. The positive momentum was supported by a strong performance in tech stocks on Wall Street last Friday. The market was also buoyed by last week’s encouraging data, reflecting a rebound in the country’s economy. Investors are hopeful that the Federal Reserve will further cut interest rates following softer inflation data. Despite the positive outlook, traders remained cautious due to the shortened trading week leading up to the Christmas holiday. Infratil (1.9%), Ebos Group (1.5%), Summerset Group (1.0%), and Fisher & Paykel (0.9%) were among the early gainers, while Chorus dropped 1.2% after news broke that the government would be selling about $650 million in interest-free loans owed by Chorus, not due to be fully repaid until 2036.
