(Bloomberg) -- New Zealand stocks erased year-to-date losses of as much as 26%, as the country becomes one of the few countries in the world to have successfully eradicated the coronavirus pandemic.
The country’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 Index Gross gained 3.2% Monday, bringing the advance to 36% from its lowest level this year on March 23. It is the first major benchmark in Asia Pacific to wipe out this year’s losses at market close. Korea’s Kospi Index briefly erased its 2020 decline in early trading Monday.
Tourist services provider Tourism Holdings Limited and mobile payment company Pushpay Holdings Limited contributed most of the gains in the rebound.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday that all remaining restrictions on people and businesses, other than strict border controls to keep the virus out, will be lifted at midnight tonight. The South Pacific nation earlier reported that the last of its coronavirus patients has recovered.
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