NZ market upbeat as China's economy opens back up
Business confidence might’ve gone out the window today but China reopening its economy has put markets everywhere in good spirits.
Tuesday, January 17th 2023, 6:04PM
by BusinessDesk
The S&P/NZX 50 index rose 69.8 points, or 0.6%, to 11,881.00. Turnover was $98.1 million.
Devon Funds head of retail Greg Smith said China was the big news of the day and now investors were starting to anticipate consumer price index (CPI) data out next Wednesday.
Any downside in the CPI would be “positively received” he said, but investors would be less than happy with any upside in the data.
Business confidence tanked to its weakest level since 1970 in the December quarter after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's more hawkish monetary policy statement (MPS) in November.
Christina Leung, principal economist for the NZ Institute of Economic Research (NZIER), said the latest survey suggested that NZ was “already starting to see firms reining back on hiring”.
In NZ’s market today, logistics software firm TradeWindow was seeking a further $20 million in new capital to fund activity as it grew its customer base ahead of profitability.
Chair Alasdair MacLeod said the need for capital raising had been “signalled” to the market in recent months and the company had received indications of support from key existing shareholders.
TradeWindow fell 8% to 46 cents but on very light trading.
Cooks Coffee Company shares were flat at 36.5 cents after it reported strong sales in the United Kingdom and Ireland over Christmas, thanks to driving up sale volumes and expanding more stores across both states.
The hospitality franchising company said UK sales rose 41% and Ireland sales jumped 91% in the year ended Dec 31 compared to the same period in 2021.
NZ Oil & Gas (NZO) announced it was joining forces with Australian stock exchange-listed energy firm Triangle Energy to execute a farming agreement that will allow the two companies to enter the Perth Basin.
The agreement included NZO picking up 25% interest in Triangle’s L7 and EP 437 northern Perth Basin permits and would also contribute $2.1m towards past expenditures on recently acquired Bookara 3D seismic data.
NZO was up 1.2% to 42 cents by early evening but on very light trading.
Other stocks that fell today included Pacific Edge, which fell 3.9% to 50 cents and Synalit Milk, which fell 2% to $3.48.
Stocks that saw some of the bigger jumps today were Mainfreight, which was up 3.5% to $70 and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which rose 2.4% to $24.75.
The NZ dollar was trading at 64 US cents at 5pm in Wellington, down slightly from 64.23 US cents yesterday.
The recent strength in the kiwi reflected the current weakness in the greenback, currency trader OFX said in a note today.
OFX said the kiwi had also been continuing to enjoy “modest gains” on Monday thanks to the ongoing optimism surrounding China reopening.
| « NZ shares rise as US earnings season prepares to kick off | Large growth stocks pull NZ market higher » |
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