Fonterra Fund leads NZ shares higher

New Zealand shares edged higher led by the Fonterra Shareholders’ fund after the cooperative gave an update showing strong growth in both production and exports.

Wednesday, June 30th 2021, 6:21PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 13.66 points, or 0.1%, to 12,654.6. Turnover was $190 million.

Global share markets have continued to push higher, leaving NZ in their wake. The S&P 500 hit a fresh record overnight, and European indices were positive.

ASB economist Mike Jones said impressive economic data had been rolling out but not spurring much reaction.

“This could be a sign that the blockbuster global recovery is increasingly fully priced, or it could just be the usual pre-US employment data torpor,” he said in a note.

Fonterra Shareholders' Fund Units were top of the NZX 50 today, jumping 5.1% to $3.91 as the stock begins to recover.

The fund spiralled to its lowest share price ever this month, after the cooperative put out a proposal to kill the fund all together.

Today, a global dairy update reporting a 7.6% increase in milk production from May last year and a 19.8% increase in exports may have given the share price a reason to rally.

Adventure retailer Kathmandu climbed 3.2% to $1.61 as analysts urged investors to look past the temporary disruption from Australian lockdowns.

The lockdown is hurting sales in the critical winter clothing range, but analysts said the summer-based Rip Curl brand was benefitting from reopening economies in the northern hemisphere.

“Although sales disruption is poorly timed, commentary suggests underlying brand performance is healthy, with Kathmandu tracking at pre covid-19 levels as it entered winter,” Forsyth Barr analysts said.

Analysts were less excited about Vital Healthcare’s acquisition of a private hospital in Melbourne, saying as the purchase was funded from debt facilities the risk of a capital raise for future developments will weigh on the share price. Still, the property investor's units climbed 1.5% to $3.095 today.

Sky Network Television gained 1.8% to 17.4 cents as investors continued to react to its investor day. Analysts said its approach to broadband offering was encouraging but “the elephant in the room” – aka programming costs – were hardly mentioned.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was the biggest drag on the index, falling 2% to $31.12, while A2 Milk fell 1.4% to $6.44.

The kiwi dollar caught yet another bout of unexpected weakness, falling half a cent to be trading at 69.98 US cents at 3pm in Wellington, down from 70.43 cents yesterday.

The trade-weighted index was at 73.74 at 3pm, from 74.12 yesterday. The kiwi traded at 93.10 Australian cents from 93.17 cents, 77.31 yen from 77.83 yen, 58.77 euro cents from 59.11 cents, 50.50 British pence from 50.79 pence, and 4.5188 Chinese yuan from 4.5515 yuan.

Tags: Market Close