NZ sharemarket falls to near nine week low
An uncertain New Zealand sharemarket fell to its lowest level in nearly nine weeks, with many leading stocks being hit.
Thursday, May 9th 2024, 6:33PM
by BusinessDesk
The S&P/NZX 50 Index continued to slide all day until a late rise in the broker matching session and closed at 11,746.59, down 36.3 points or 0.31% – its fifth fall in seven trading days.
The index sat at 11,744.39 on March 1. There were 81 decliners and 52 gainers over the whole market on volumes of 25.56 million share transactions worth $88.48m.
'Not bad at all'
David McConnochie, investment adviser with Forsyth Barr, said it was another weak day.
“There’s a lack of confidence in the New Zealand economy, and I think some international funds have been moving out of the country. We have seen some yield plays today."
He said the market was waiting to see further direction from the Reserve Bank monetary policy statement on May 22.
Investors will also closely follow the reporting season, which begins on May 20 with Manawa Energy (full-year) and Gentrack (half-year).
Over the 22 companies reporting – dominated by property and retirement village stocks – Forsyth Barr has forecast average revenue growth of 3% and operating earnings (Ebit) growth of 2%.
Earnings per share forecasts are expected to fall 6%, and dividend per share growth being flat.
McConnochie said the revenue and Ebit growth forecasts were “not bad at all” considering the economic slowdown.
“If top-line revenue is growing, then that’s a good sign.
“Some of the companies will be cycling higher earnings from a year ago, and a lot of this has been priced into the market. That’s why we have seen weakness.”
In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased for the sixth successive day, up 0.44% to 38,056.39 points – the longest stretch of positive days this year.
Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had fallen 1.09% to 7,719.7 points at 6pm NZ time.
Local market
At home, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 45c to $28.70; Ebos Group declined 84c or 2.39% to $34.35; Infratil eased 20c to $10.62; Fletcher Building decreased 9c or 2.53% to $3.47; Skellerup fell 12c or 2.99% to $3.90; and SkyCity was down 5c or 2.89% to $1.68.
In the retirement sector, Ryman Health declined 8c or 2.08% to $3.77, and Summerset Group was down 14c to $10.56.
Interest rate-sensitive stocks Mercury Energy increased 19c or 3.01% to $6.50; Meridian was up 15.5c or 2.59% to $6.15; Vector gained 8c or 2.22% to $3.69; Stride Property rose 5c or 4.13% to $1.26; and Spark added 2c to $4.33.
Meridian told the market the 176MW Harapaki wind farm near Napier will be fully operational by the end of July. The project is expected to be completed inside the $448m capital budget.
Vulcan Steel hit its lowest price since listing in November 2021 after falling 45c or 6.04% to $7.
Serko fell 13c or 3.9% to $3.20; Vista Group was down 6c or 3.28% to $1.77; Gentrack decreased 15c or 1.79% to $8.25; Genesis Energy declined 5c or 2.2% to $2.225; Comvita shed 4c or 2.23% to $1.75; and Restaurant Brands eased 11c or 3.34% to $3.18.
In the retail sector, Michael Hill fell 3c or 4.29% to 67c; Hallenstein Glasson was down 10c or 1.77% to $5.55; and Briscoe Group decreased 6c to $4.41.
PGG Wrightson was down a further 7c or 3.95% to $1.70; Seeka declined 14c or 5.2% to $2.55; and Air NZ shed 1c or 1.82% to 54c.
Other decliners were Foley Wines, shedding 2c or 2.5% to 78c; Bremworth falling 2.5c or 5.75% to 41c; Green Cross Health, giving up 2c 1.96% to $1; NZ Rural Land, down 3c or 3.16% to 92c; and CDL Investments decreasing 2c or 2.74% to 71c.
Other gainers were a2 Milk adding 4c to $6.81, Rakon up 2c or 2.13% to 96c, and Geneva Finance increasing 1.5c or 5.88% to 27c.
Scales Corp, down 5c to $3.05, has declared a final dividend of 4.25c a share for the 2023 financial year, payable on July 12. The total dividend for the year was 8.5c a share, representing 63% of its net profit.
| « NZ sharemarket kept afloat thanks to F&P Healthcare | NZ sharemarket slips back into negative territory » |
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