Quiet start to NZ sharemarket's week, optimism for strong US earnings season

The New Zealand sharemarket had a quiet start to the week, though clothing retailer Hallenstein Glasson, a household name, continued to make strong gains.

Monday, May 1st 2023, 6:38PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index had a sharp morning fall but recovered in the afternoon to close at 12,002.97, down 16.86 points or 0.14%. The index traded between 11,933.44 and 12,019.84.

There were 73 gainers and 61 decliners on the main board, with 39.69 million shares worth $110.96 million changing hands.

Jeremy Sullivan, an investment advisor with Hamilton Hindin Greene, said the latest United States earnings season is going better than many expected, especially in the technology sector.

“This optimism has flowed through the Australian and NZ market – but only in sentiment for us today,” Sullivan said. "People are eyeing the peak in inflation and we are starting to see inflows from investors who are looking further ahead and seeing good value in the market."

Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had risen 0.47% to 7343.6 points at 6pm NZ time.

So far, just over half of the S&P 500 companies have reported first-quarter earnings and nearly 80% of them have surpassed market expectations. The earnings are on track to fall 3.7% for the first quarter, well below the 6.7% decline projected beforehand.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, up 0.8% to 34,098.16 points on Friday, had its best monthly stretch since January after gaining 2.5% in April. At home, Hallenstein Glasson added a further 18c or 2.88% to $6.43 after reaching an intraday high of $6.60. It has now risen nearly 10% in two trading days.

Hallenstein Glasson reported a robust first-half result, and the stock is tipped to replace Pushpay Holdings in the NZX top 50.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 27c to $27.53; Ebos Group declined 30c to $44; Freightways shed 22c or 2.32% to $9.28; a2 Milk was down 5c to $5.85; and Synlait decreased 4c or 2.48% to $1.57.

Vulcan Steel fell 14c to $8.52; SkyCity Entertainment was down 4c to $2.36; Task Group declined 2.5c or 6.02% to 39c; and Embark Education decreased 2c or 3.17% to 61c.

In the energy sector, Mercury was up 5.5c to $6.395; Genesis increased 4c to $2.75; Vector gained 4c to $4.01; and Meridian decreased 4c to $5.42.

Other decliners were Millennium & Copthorne Hotels NZ, falling 9c or 4.31% to $2; Winton Land, down 4c or 2% to $1.96; and Carbon Fund, decreasing 5c or 2.6% to $1.87.

Fletcher Building was up 11c or 2.44% to $4.61; Mainfreight collected 45c to $72.15; Skellerup Holdings increased 9c or 1.84% to $4.97; Ryman Healthcare added 7c to $5.37, and Smartpay Holdings rose 9c or 5.81% to $1.64.

Property for Industry was up 5c or 2.17% to $2.35; NZME gained 3c or 2.83% to $1.09; Rakon added 2c or 1.94% to $1.05; and CDL Investments improved 1.5c to 79c.

Steel & Tube gained 2c or 1.94% to $1.05; Move Logistics increased 3c or 3.26% to 95c; Black Pearl Group improved 4.5c or 13.43% to 38c; and WasteCo Group gained 1c or 16.67% to 7c.

Vista Group, up 2c to $1.25, has signed existing client Everyman Media Group to Vista Cloud. Everyman, listed on the London Stock Exchange, operates 40 cinemas with more than 130 screens.

MHM Automation was up 2c or 2.2% to 92c after telling the market it had settled the purchase of Christchurch-based Wyma Engineering for $60m. Wyma managing director Andrew Barclay becomes a major shareholder with 22.9% and joins the MHM board.

Asset Plus was up 0.005c or 2.04% to 25c after the sale of its Auckland Stoddard Rd property was settled. Asset Plus has repaid $36.35m to BNZ, with the overall banking facility reducing by $33m to $52m, and drawn debt is now $37.3m as it completes its Albany Munroe Lane development.

Apple exporter Scales Corp, down 1c to $3.14, has announced a full-year 2022 final dividend of 9.5c a share payable on July 7.

AFT Pharmaceuticals, down 4c to $3.36, told the market it will receive a response from the US Food and Drug Administration about its Maxigesic IV registration in mid-October. The medicine treats post-operative pain.

Cannasouth, unchanged at 29c, has launched a $9m capital raise at 29c a share, with an equal opportunity for Cannasouth and Eqalis shareholders under their merger. The entitlement is one new Cannasouth share for every 9.53075 held.

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