NZ sharemarket ends week on brighter note with heavy trading

The New Zealand sharemarket had its second gain of the week on the back of strong rebounds in offshore bourses and further economic stimulus in China.

Friday, September 15th 2023, 6:27PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed at 11,347.73, up 34.2 points or 0.30%, after fluctuating between an intraday low of 11,290.27 and a high of 11,365.26. The index finished flat for the week and is down 1.1% for the year so far.

There were 87 gainers and 31 decliners on the main board. Trading was extended for the quarterly rebalance of the NZX and FTSE Russell Indices, and by the end of the day, 128.64 million shares worth $364.97m changed hands.

In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had its best day since Aug 7, rising 0.96% to 34,907.11 points. The S&P 500 was up 0.84% to 4505.10 points, and the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.81% to 13,926.05.

In the first major initial public offering for nearly two years, chip design company Arm Holdings, controlled by SoftBank, jumped nearly 25% on its first day of listing, rising from US$51 (NZ$85.94) to $63.59. Arm has a US$60 billion valuation.

There was also plenty of solid economic news. The Producer Price Index rose 0.7%, ahead of the market expectation of 0.4% and the biggest monthly gain since June last year. On an annual basis, the cost of producing goods and services was up 1.6%.

Retail sales were also above expectation, rising 0.6% in August compared with the previous month. The market expected 0.1%. The employment market remains strong. Commentators say US consumers are proving relatively resilient to cost-of-living pressures.

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said Chinese authorities have cut the cash rate used as a reference point for lending, with banks providing more liquidity.

“Latest numbers have shown that China’s economy slowly improved in August, and this has helped sentiment. And inflation in the US is not as bad as some people thought,” he said.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index had risen 0.97% to 18,2233.43 points at 6pm NZ time, and the S&P/ASX 200 Index had increased 1.35% to 7283.4.

Back in NZ

At home, Skellerup Holdings was up 15c or 3.23% to $4.78; Tourism Holdings gained 3c to $3.73; KMD Brands, unchanged at 78c, and Pacific Edge, increasing 0.006c or 5% to 12.6c, are being removed from the FTSE Russell indices.

Up to 12 stocks had their weightings increased or decreased on the NZX, while Meridian, gaining 7c to $5.36, and Vulcan Steel, up 19c or 2.12% to $9.15, were similarly affected on the ASX.

Meridian said in its latest operating report that national hydro storage for the month to Sept 11 decreased from 106% to 83%, and retail sales volumes in August were 4.1% higher than the same month last year. It was the coldest August in seven years.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, down 12c to $21.40, made presentations to analysts and investors in Mexico and California, but it told the market there was no new material information.

“At least they are being consistent with what they have told us before,” said Solly.

Among those having less weighting on the NZX, Ebos Group was down 46c to $35.15; Auckland International Airport declined 11c to $7.74; and Summerset Group decreased 18c or 1.82% to $9.70.

Among those having more weighting, Ryman Healthcare was up 11c to $6.60; Spark added 4c to $4.78; Mercury Energy increased 19c or 3.19% to $6.15; and Mainfreight declined $1.88 or 2.84% to $64.40, its lowest level in more than 33 months.

Chorus was up 18.5c or 2.49% to $7.61; Fletcher Building gained 12c or 2.69% to $4.58; a2 Milk collected 7c to $4.88; Sky TV increased 10c or 4.2% to $2.48; and SkyCity improved 6c or 3.;09% to $2.

Kiwi Property increased 3.5c or 4.17% to 87.5c; Argosy Property collected 4c or 3.57% to $1.16; Heartland Group gained 6c or 3.47% to $1.79; Winton Land was up 5c or 2.17% to $2.35; Restaurant Brands improved 8c or 1.87% to $4.35; and Radius Residential Care added 1c or 5.88% to 18c.

Vital Healthcare Property Trust was down 4c or 1.93% to $2.03 on trade worth $13.5m; Arvida Group declined 3c or 2.4% to $1.22; Vista Group shed 7c or 4.46% to $1.50; Green Cross Health decreased 4c or 3.08% to $1.26; and PGG Wrightson was down 10c or 2.82% to $3.45.

MHM Automation was down 4c or 4.04% to 95c after reporting a 43% increase in revenue to $96.7m, a 107% rise in operating earnings (Ebitda) to $9.9m, and a 126% gain in net profit to $4.11m for the year ending June.

MHM’s result included two months of trading from Wyma Engineering, and the automation manufacturer has forward sales of $63m.

Tags: Market Close