Australian shares ran out of puff on Wednesday following a two-day rally, but New Zealand eked out a third session of gains as solid profits whipped a2 Milk Company's stock price into a froth. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index was a touch lower at 4,909.90 by 1257 GMT, taking a breather after amassing around 3 percent over the past two days.
In contrast, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index climbed 0.34 percent, or 20.48 points, to 6,095.85, having earlier risen as much as 1.0 percent to a one-week week. a2 Milk Company was the star performer, shooting up more than 20 percent at one stage.
Investors cheered after the company posted first half net profit of NZ$10.1 million ($6.6 million), thanks to strong demand for its infant formula product, a dramatic improvement from NZ$0.1 million in the prior year. Shares in a2 Milk have since come off the highs and were up 5.9 percent, a magnitude that was more in line with their Australia-listed counterparts. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group received a less enthusiastic response from the market after reporting a 4 percent rise in first quarter unaudited cash profit. ANZ shares drifted in and out of negative territory and were last up 0.7 percent.