Investors lift shares after a less hawkish Reserve Bank outlook

A less hawkish Reserve Bank gave investors a positive surprise. (Image: Getty)

Wed, 24 May 2023

A surprised New Zealand sharemarket rallied nearly 1% after the Reserve Bank indicated it was done with raising interest rates.The S&P/NZX 50 Index had fallen to 11,862.42 points and then jumped to an intraday high of 11,995.27 when the Reserve Bank announced an expected 25 basis points rise in the official cash rate (OCR) to 5.5%.What wasn’t expected was the message that the bank still sees 5.5% as the peak for the OCR and it expects rate cuts from the third quarter next year.The index closed at 11,971.83, up 27.63 points or 0....

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