NZ shares break losing streak

NZ shares made broad gains with almost all stocks climbing as investors bought heavily sold stocks as market interest rates fell slightly.

Monday, May 31st 2021, 6:06PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 121.84 points, or 1%, to 12,304.09. Within the index, nine stocks fell and 39 rose.

The index finished last week down almost 9% year-to-date after having just five positive days in the past month - meanwhile US indices gained 1-to-2% across the past week and are up more than 10% this year.

This week investors seemed to sense opportunity and sent the vast majority of stocks up in a broad-based rally.

Port of Tauranga led the market higher, jumping 3.9% to $7.49. Tourism Holdings climbed 3.6% to $2.58, followed by Pacific Edge which climbed 3.6% to $1.19 - just below its record high.

In the domestic rates market, bond yields and swap rates moved lower as traders digested the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s plan to slowly begin to raise rates from next year.

Electricity generators were all stronger: Contact Energy rose 2.2% to $7.90, Genesis Energy climbed 2.1% to $3.44, and Meridian Energy was up 1.6% at $5.53.

ANZ’s business outlook survey for May was positive compared to April, with business confidence up 4 points at a net 1.8% and firms’ own activity outlook up 5 points to 27.1%.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare bounced from a three-month low, recovering 2% to reach $29.79. The stock was sold down after the exporter declined to give any forward guidance.

Dairy firms were among the handful of stocks that failed to make gains.

A2 Milk Company today said it was aware of reports about a potential class-action suit that may allege the company breached continuous disclosure rules by not giving earnings downgrades sooner.

The milk marketing firm said it had complied with all applicable disclosure obligations but its shares declined 0.3% to $5.86.

Synlait Milk shares slipped 1% to $3, after lifting its 2020-21 milk payout forecast $7.55 per kilogram of milk solids, up from $7.20 kgMS.

“Commodity prices have continued to outperform our expectations, predominantly due to strong Chinese demand, combined with a relatively stable FX rate, meaning we are pleased to increase our forecast for this season and next,” said chief executive John Penno.

The kiwi dollar was trading at 72.52 US cents at 3pm in Wellington, down from 72.77 cents last Friday.

The trade-weighted index was at 75.21 at 3pm, from 75.51. The kiwi traded at 93.88 Australian cents from 93.96 cents, 79.56 yen from 79.98 yen, 59.44 euro cents from 59.73 cents, 51.08 British pence from 51.30 pence, and 4.6157 Chinese yuan from 4.6399 yuan.

Tags: Market Close