NZ market in the red as election countdown begins

New Zealand’s benchmark index slid as investors started the countdown to the election later this week and waited for key US inflation data due this Friday.

Monday, October 9th 2023, 6:30PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 82 points, or 0.7%, to 11,205.06. Turnover was $74.9 million. There were 67 gainers and 59 decliners on the main board.

Peter McIntyre, an investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners, said the NZ market had a slow day with light volumes as investors were very much in anticipation mode from the looming election.

Gentailers had dragged the market lower on Friday and were still heading in a downward direction on Monday. Meridian Energy and Genesis Energy both have their annual meetings this week.

Today, Meridian Energy fell 13 cents or 2.5% to $5.04 and Genesis Energy edged down 1.5 cents or 0.6% to $2.48.

Mercury was down 10 cents or 1.6% to $6.02, Manawa Energy was down 3 cents or 0.7% to $4.52 and Contact Energy fell 11 cents or 1.4% to $7.87.

Dairy giant Fonterra boosted its farmgate milk price forecast due to a brighter outlook.

The dairy co-op now predicts a payout ranging from $6.50 to $8 per kilogram of milk solids, with a new midpoint of $7.25/kgMS, a 50 cent increase.

The upward adjustment follows two earlier reductions this season when whole milk powder prices fell. Encouragingly, prices at the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction have risen for three consecutive events after several declines.

Fonterra Shareholders’ Units ended the day up 8 cents or 2.7% to $3.08 while A2 Milk was flat at $4.41 per share and Synlait Milk was down 4 cents or 2.9% to $1.35.

Other big news was that the value of renewable energy firm Infratil's investment in CDC Data Centres has jumped from around A$3.4b (NZ$3.67b) to A$3.88b in six months, due to rising demand for AI services. The estimated value now falls between A$3.64b and A$4.19b.

Infratil CEO Jason Boyes attributed this growth to increased customer interest in CDC's datacentre services, prompting plans for accelerated construction and expansion in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland.

The valuation assumes 268MW of existing facilities, 265MW under construction and 517MW for future development by 2028, with access to required land.

The cost of equity in the valuation rose from 9.6% to 11.2% between March and September, reflecting higher risk and expansion. Infratil was up 10 cents or 1% to $10.15.

Briscoe Group was up 13 cents or 2.9% to $4.64 after it released its interim report.

Meal-kit company My Food Bag went up 1 cent or 6.3% to 17 cents on light trading.

Tech firm Black Pearl told the NZ stock exchange it plans to raise about $4m through a capital raise of 51 cents per share and was down 1 cent or 1.7% to 58 cents today.

Task Group was down 2.5 cents or 5.9% to 40 cents while Serko fell 19 cents or 4.6% to $3.93.

The NZ dollar was trading at 59.85 US cents at 3pm in Wellington, up from 59.66 on Friday. The trade-weighted index was at 71.09, from 70.75 on Friday.

Tags: Market Close