End-of-year rally for shares continues

The New Zealand sharemarket continued its Santa rally and is on track for its eighth successive week of gains.

Thursday, December 21st 2023, 6:42PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index had another solid afternoon and closed at 11,627.99, up 48.19 points or 0.42% after falling to a morning low of 11,544.85.

The index has gained 1.3% so far this year and has risen nearly 8% since the start of November.

There were 65 gainers and 69 decliners on the main board today, but trading so close to Christmas was light with 26.52 million shares worth $70.84m changing hands.

Jeremy Sullivan, an investment adviser with Hamilton Hindin Greene, said the local market bucked the trend with weaker prices offshore, but in the United States it was profit-taking following their strong rally.

“Our rally has been more about a revised gross domestic product, lower interest rates forecast and the pivot by the Federal Reserve [to cutting rates next year] than the mini-budget.

“Wholesale interest rates continue to drift lower and this is flowing into mortgage rate cuts. There is some light at the end of the tunnel for mortgage holders,” said Sullivan.

The NZ 10-year government bond yield was down 4.9 basis points to 4.44%. The ANZ and BNZ banks have trimmed their longer fixed-rate home loans.

The major US indices had their worst day since October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index was down 1.27% to 37,082 points, the S&P 500 declined 1.47% to 4698.35, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.5% to 14,777.94.

Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had declined 0.42% to 7506.5 points at 6pm NZ time.

But in London, the FTSE 100 Index rose 1.02% to 7715.68 points following a surprise fall in inflation to 3.9% in November, down from 4.6% in the previous month. The market there is now talking about an earlier interest rate cut next year.

On the NZ market

At home, Spark put on 6c to $5.14; Summerset Group increased 20c or 2% to $10.20; Ryman Healthcare gained 9c to $5.60; Mainfreight was up 25c to $69; Auckland International Airport collected 6c to 8.56; and NZME rose 4c or 4.21% to 99c.

Other gainers were Ventia Services rising 15c or 4.89% to $3.22; Marsden Maritime Holdings adding 10c or 2.27% to $4.50; Scott Technology increasing 10c or 3.03% to $3.40; Winton Land up 7c or 2.75% to $2.62; Green Cross Health collecting 6c or 5.56% to $1.14; and Pacific Edge improving 0.005c or 5.81% to 9.1c.

Property companies Investore was up 2c or 1.8% to $1.13; Kiwi gained 1.5c or 1.75% to 87c; and Vital Healthcare Trust added 5c or 2.35% to $2.175.

Amongst the retailers, Michael Hill increased 3c or 3.3% to 94c; Briscoe Group was down 9c or 2% to $4.42; Hallenstein Glasson declined 8c to $5.52; and KMD Brands shed 3c or 4.05% to 71c.

Leading wine exporter Delegat Group continued its slide, down 19c or 3.07% to $6 and has fallen 38.66% over the past 12 months. Delegat sat at $10.20 on January 4.

Ebos Group was down 65c or 1.79% to $35.70; Gentrack declined 14c or 2.11% to $6.48; Serko shed 12c or 2.88% to $4.04; Restaurant Brands decreased 7c or 1.96% to $3.50; Scales Corp gave up 8c or 2.52% to $3.09; and Heartland Group was down 3c or 2.03% to $1.45.

Enprise, unchanged at 60c, has been publicly censured and fined $60,000 by the NZ Markets Disciplinary Tribunal for breaching an NZX listing rule relating to the disclosure of its Kilimanjaro Consulting dispute with MYOB.

Rua Bioscience was down 0.003c or 2.54% to 11.5. Rua has recently signed a two-year distribution agreement with UK pharmaceutical distributor, Target Healthcare. Fellow medicinal cannabis producer Cannasouth was up 0.004c or 3.13% to 13.2c.

Cervical cancer screening developer TruScreen Group, up 0.001c or 4.76% to 2.2c, was recently named one of the top two winners in the Polish Mother and Child Institute start-up challenge for innovative technology focusing on artificial intelligence in healthcare.

Tags: Market Close