NZ market bounces back from morning low

The New Zealand sharemarket staged a solid half-percent recovery, with Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund and Hallenstein Glasson leading the way with strong gains.

Thursday, May 4th 2023, 6:36PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index hit a morning low of 11,868.85 but bounced back and closed at 11,968.55, up 60.56 points or 0.51%.

Trading was unusually light with 26.74 million shares worth $69.46 million changing hands, and there were 74 gainers and 51 decliners on the main board.

The latest NZX statistics showed total trades in April fell 48.5% to 603,702 and value traded was down 36.8% to $1.91 billion.

S&P Dow Jones Indices confirmed clothing retailer Hallenstein Glasson will be added to the NZX top 50 next Thursday, replacing Pushpay Holdings, and the stock rose 52c or 8.48% to $6.65.

Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund increased 19c or 5.28% to $3.79 after the Global Dairy Trade price index was up 2.5% as demand around the world picks up.

Synlait Milk, however, was down 6c or 3.9% to $1.48, and a2 Milk was up 3c to $5.75.

The local market was undaunted by a further interest rate rise in the United States after the Federal Reserve increased its funds rate an expected 25 basis points to a target range of 5-5.25%.

Fed chair Jerome Powell did hint that the door was open to a rate pause but not at this stage, and further decisions would be driven by incoming data.

“In determining the extent to which additional policy firming may be appropriate to return inflation to 2% over time, the committee will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, and economic and financial developments,” the Fed said.

David McConnochie, investment adviser with Forsyth Barr, said the local market had “a pretty solid” day but the banks were weak after National Australia Bank, owner of BNZ, said its margins were squeezed in announcing the half-year result.

Westpac declined 70c or 2.97% to $22.90, and ANZ was down as low as $24.57 before turning around and finishing 4c ahead at $25.75.

Briscoe Group, up 6c to $4.51, reported a 2.82% increase in sales to $181.2m for the first quarter ending April, with homeware up 2.85% to $109.9m and sporting goods gaining 2.78% to $71.3m compared with the same quarter last year.

Briscoe said, “We expect it to be difficult for the group to replicate last year’s record profit result, but are confident we are well placed to outperform our retail peers.”

Auckland International Airport gained 17c or 1.97% to $8.82; Ebos Group was up 25c to $44.05; Mainfreight increased 80c to $72.10; Fletcher Building added 7c to $4.66; and Port of Tauranga collected 7c to $6.38.

Seeka was up 7c or 2.66% to $2.70; Vital Healthcare Property Trust added 4c to $2.32; Delegat Group increased 15c to $9.26; Gentrack gained 6c to $3.46; Scales Corp rose 15c or 4.81% to $3.27; and Vista Group improved 3c or 2.4% to $1.28.

The retirement village sector was stronger. Ryman Healthcare was up 11c or 2.09% to $5.37; Summerset Group gained 11c to $8.30; Arvida Group improved 2c or 1.98% to $1.03; and Oceania Healthcare added 1c to 70c.

In the energy sector, Contact increased 13c to $7.95, and Meridian was up 5c to $5.45.

Mercury Energy, declining 1.5c to $6.395, told the market that its Turitea Wind Farm in Manawatū, the country’s biggest, has now been completed. The 33 northern turbines have been generating since December 2021 and the southern 27 turbines will be fully operational by next month.

Turitea produces an average of 840 gigawatt hours a year, enough to power 120,000 households, and adds 2% renewable energy to the national grid.

Market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 23c to $27.27; Restaurant Brands declined 21c or 2.78% to $7.34; Michael Hill decreased 3c or 2.75% to $1.06; Smartpay Holdings shed 4c or 2.47% to $1.58; Vital fell 1.5c or 6.38% to 22c; and Carbon Fund was down 4c or 2.23% to $1.75.

Utility software company ikeGPS gained 3c or 3.66% to 85c after updating the market, with a 93% rise in revenue to $30.8m for the 12 months to March. Fourth quarter sales included winning nearly one new enterprise customer a week, including another large electricity utility operating on the US east coast.

Chatham Rock Phosphate gained 0.007c or 4.67% to 15.7c after reporting that Monash University has completed the first step in its tests to produce monocalcium phosphate at its Queensland Korella Mine.

Booster Innovation Fund, unchanged at $1.432, has added Upstream Medical to its portfolio with an investment of $262,500. Upstream is developing a unique test for rapid and accurate diagnostics of specific heart conditions.

Tags: Market Close