China's markets rose on Tuesday as financial stocks bounced and the offshore yuan strengthened on suspected state bank intervention. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index inched up 0.2 percent or 9.5 points to finish the session at 6,112.350. Deep-seated concerns about the outlook for China and further pain for commodity prices offered no respite.
Losses for crude oil prices were approaching 20 percent in just seven sessions as analysts scrambled to cut their 2016 oil price forecasts and traders bet on further price falls. Iron ore has also been on the wane, with five sessions of losses taking the spot price down to $40./90 a tonne. Santos, Woodside, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto all nursed losses. Santos alone was down 18 percent on the year so far.
Demand was largely for defensive stocks, such as Telstra and the major banks. Commonwealth Bank of Australia edged up almost 0.7 percent to make the single largest contribution to the index. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index tried to buck the trend with a gain of 0.3 percent, or 17.23 points, to 6,120.10. The subsidiaries of Australian banks led gains, with ANZ rising 2.4 percent and Westpac 1.5 percent. Property companies also had a boost, with Property for Industries and Precinct Properties each rising 1.2 percent. Online auction site Trade Me, which announced changes to its pricing, rose 1 percent. The Warehouse Group rose 0.4 percent on top of a 5 percent gain the previous session in the wake of a profit forecast. Heartland Bank was the biggest loser, down 0.8 percent and Air New Zealand edged down 0.2 percent.