NZ sharemarket edges down as investors mull over last week’s data

New Zealand’s sharemarket investors seem to have spent Monday mulling over last week’s data as there was little on the company news front to drive prices today.

Monday, June 19th 2023, 8:07PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 49.3 points, or 0.4%, to 11,800.040. Turnover on the entire market was a very light $74.9 million with 50 stocks rising and 75 falling.

Hamilton Hindin Greene’s Grant Davies said it had been a quiet day in the US on Friday which had bled through into NZ’s market on Monday, with the New York Stock Exchange due to be closed overnight for Juneteenth, the annual commemoration of the end of slavery in the US.

GDP data for the March quarter released last week showing NZ was in technical recession and further data also showed the economy was limping.

Last Thursday's Stats NZ balance of payments data series showed the current account was in deficit to the tune of $33.03 billion in the 12 months ended March 31, down from the $34.94b shortfall at the end of December, or 8.5% of gross domestic product (GDP).

BNZ senior economist Craig Ebert said the size of the external deficit looked to have peaked in 2022 and he expected “gradual” moderation over the remainder of 2023, consistent with the economy cooling off.

He said Monday morning’s release of the performance of services index (PSI) out of BNZ and BusinessNZ had shown the services sector had recovered to a “near-normal” level of 53.3 in May. “This arguably helped calm nerves after the PSI abruptly sagged to 50.1 in April, and after the services component of last week’s first quarter GDP logged a decline of 0.6%.”

There’s not a lot filling out the local data calendar this week, although the Westpac McDermott Miller consumer confidence index is out tomorrow and will give a snapshot of how NZ consumers are feeling this quarter.

Cinema tech company Vista Group said it was obeying market rules after the NZX regulator asked if it was complying with disclosure obligations. Vista’s share price rose from $1.33 on May 31 to $1.74 on June 16 – last Friday.

NZ RegCo senior surveillance analyst Mitchell Bradley asked Vista to explain the 30.8% share price rise in that time.

The company said it “continues to comply with its continuous disclosure obligations”.

Vista ended the day down 3 cents, or 1.7%, to $1.71, trading over $2.1m over the day.

Scott Technology, which had a good run on the index last week as well amid signs its majority shareholder may sell out, ended the day flat at $3.10 per share.

Meal-kit company MyFoodBag carried on its positive streak from last week and jumped up 12% earlier on in the day. By early evening it was up 1.4 cents, or 7.5%, to 20 cents.

“It's not a huge volume, so could be just one motivated buyer or fund,” Davies told BusinessDesk.

“But obviously long-suffering shareholders will be pleased.”

He added that My Food Bag could be the next in line for a “speeding ticket” from NZ RegCo if the stock continued to jump at such a rate.

Trucking software company Eroad’s 2023 sustainability report came out today, with the transport software company reporting that its NZ region operation had covered 3,329,012,252 kilometres (km) in travel in the 2023 financial year. Australia had covered 627,463,093 km and the United States had completed 5,320,464,853 km.

In the report, Eroad described the total distance travelled by its units in the 2023 financial year as “more than the distance from the sun to Neptune and back”.

The stock was up 2 cents, or 2.6%, to 80 cents.

Meridian Energy's monthly operating report out today showed national hydro storage increased from 121% to 143% of mean.

The gentailer said its May 2023 monthly total inflows were 190% of the historical average, making it the third-highest May inflows on record.

Meridian fell 1 cent or 0.2% to $5.41, Genesis was flat at $2.70. Contact Energy was flat at $7.83, Mercury was down 3.5 cents, or 0.6%, to $6.33, and Manawa Energy fell 4 cents, or 0.9%, to $4.69.

Vector edged down 3 cents, or 0.8%, to $3.98.

Banks' share prices edged up today.

ANZ rose 31 cents, or 1.2%, to $26.06, while Westpac was up 38 cents, or 1.7%, to $23.25. Heartland edged down 1 cent, or 0.6%, to $1.67.

On the currency front, the NZ dollar was trading at 62.20 US cents at 3pm in Wellington, from 62.40 cents on Friday.

Tags: Market Close