NZ sharemarket rises as Auckland airport shares lift off

The New Zealand sharemarket staged a strong rebound after Auckland International Airport took off following a favourable review from the Commerce Commission.

Wednesday, December 13th 2023, 6:27PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index remained solid after an early-morning rise and closed at 11,475.77 points, up 93.19 points or 0.82%.

There were 82 gainers and 45 decliners on the main board, with 27.52 million shares worth $96.24 million changing hands.

The local market was heartened by cooling inflation in the United States, with the major indices there reaching new intraday 52-week highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Index was up 0.48% to 36,577.94 points, S&P 500 increased 0.46% to 4643.7, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7% to 14,533.4. The S&P 500 closed at its highest level since March last year, having increased more than 12% during the last six weeks of rises.

The US November consumer price index was up 0.1% from the month before but over the year was flat at 3.1%, driven lately by lower energy prices.

The market is now holding out for indications of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

Auckland International Airport surged 33c or 3.98% to $8.63 after receiving the final determination on cost of capital from the Commerce Commission.

Greg Smith, head of retail for Devon Funds Management, said the commission determined that the average cost of capital, from July 1, 2027, was higher than the draft assessment.

“The return [on capital] is greater than initially expected and it means the airport can earn more. The market made its own mind up that the determination is positive for the airport.”

Auckland airport told the market that it will review the commission’s determination in detail before commenting further.

The company earlier came under fire from some airlines, particularly Air NZ and Qantas, for the rate of increases in its aeronautical charges.

Airline dips

Air NZ was down 2c or 3.03% to 64c after telling the market that domestic and transtasman travel continues to soften, and it revised first-half earnings to near the bottom end of its $180m-$230m guidance.

The national airline expects the second half of the 2024 financial year to be increasingly challenging and has not provided a full-year guidance at this time.

In a late note to the NZX, Port of Tauranga said it has received an interim decision from the Environment Court granting resource consent for stage one of its planned Sulphur Point container wharf extension (some 285 metres), subject to conditions.

Decisions on whether to grant consents for stage two of the Sulphur Point wharf extension and for proposed works at the Mt Maunganui wharves are reserved pending the provision of further information. Port of Tauranga’s share price was down 5c to $5.25.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 20c to $23.85; a2 Milk added 8c or 1.88% to $4.33; Ryman Healthcare increased 10c or 1.92% to $5.30; Contact improved 18c or 2.33% to $7.90, and Genesis Energy collected 5.5c or 2.22% to $2.53.

Skellerup Holdings gained 8c to $4.92, Vulcan Steel added 16c or 2.07% to $7.90, and takeover target Rakon gained a further 5c or 4.39% to $1.19.

Precinct Properties added 3c or 2.56% to $1.20; Private Land and Property Fund increased 4.7c or 3.35% to $1.44; Allied Farmers was up 3c or 4% to 78c, and Bremworth added 2c or 3.33% to 62c.

Scott Technology was down 12c or 3.61% to $3.20; Arvida Group shed 2c or 2.13% to 92c; Marsden Maritime Holdings fell 23c or 4.81% to $4.55; Winton Land declined 5c or 2.04% to $2.40, and Blackpearl Group shed 1.5c or 3.03% to 48c.

TruScreen gained 0.003c or 15.79% to 2.2c after having its cervical cancer screening technology added to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health approved technical list.

Medicinal cannabis company Cannasouth was down 0.005c or 3.27% to 14.8c after completing a rights issue that raised $1.39m. It initially sought up to $5.6m.

Tags: Market Close