Sky TV leads NZX50 for second day

New Zealand shares edged higher with Sky Network Television leading gains for a second day.

Tuesday, August 31st 2021, 6:21PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 34.66 points, or 0.3%, to 13,218.83. Turnover was $339 million.

Volume was elevated with the trading session extended to give funds time to rebalance their portfolios before the quarterly MSCI equity index review happens overnight.

Sky TV climbed to a post-pandemic high, up almost 8% at 19 cents, on extremely high volume with more than 17m shares changing hands, compared to an average of just 3.7m.

ASB economist Nathaniel Keall said it had been a quiet start to the week, although “a decent day for NZ equities” yesterday, with the NZX50 up 0.9% over the session.

This tracks with US markets, where the S&P 500 closed at another record high overnight for the twelfth time this month.

“Weirdly, the NZX50 has lifted circa 4.7% since the latest lockdown was announced,” Keall said. This is largely attributable to strong earnings and lower interest rates.

Not all stocks have been rising, however, fishery firm Sanford dropped 2.8% to $4.45 today after reporting increased costs and shipping delays were eating into profits.

Total supply chain costs are up $5m in the 10 months to the end of July versus the same period a year earlier.

Net profit for the six months ended March was $16.2m but included a $13.3m gain on property sales, revenue fell 5% to $233.5m.

Mussel pricing continues to be a key challenge with covid impacting global demand, the company said.

Shares in Millennium & Copthorne Hotels fell 1.2% to $2.39 as it told the market the move to level 3 on Wednesday would not allow it to reopen hotels.

The group has received more than 9,000 nights of cancellations across its properties which it said would “affect the profitability of its hotel operations but is not currently expected to affect the group’s financial position in a material way”.

Dual-listed chemical firm DGL Group shares climbed 0.4% to $2.57 after reporting full year earnings above what was outlined in its prospectus forecast.

It reported a profit of A$11.3 million driven by growth in the warehousing and distribution division.

The stock has more than doubled in price since listing in May and the company is eyeing up more acquisitions to fuel its rapid growth.

Cannabis company, Rua Bioscience was up 5% at 42 cents as it bounced from a slump yesterday as investors reacted negatively to its dramatically increased cash burn rate.

The kiwi dollar continued to hold above 70 US cents and was trading at 70.26 cents at 3pm in Wellington, up from 70.05 cents yesterday.

Tags: Market Close