NZ sharemarket up 1% for the day

The New Zealand sharemarket rebounded 1%, fuelled by strong performances offshore, with Wall Street at the centre of the action in a bull run.

Tuesday, January 23rd 2024, 6:27PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 climbed steadily at noon after hitting a low of 11,645.4 and closed at 11,802.88, up 117.93 points or 1.01%.

There were 81 gainers and 41 decliners on the main board, and trading resumed normal service with 43.91 million shares worth $121.45m changing hands.

Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said the local market went higher as the day went by on the continuation of rising offshore bourses.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index had risen 2.54% to 15,341.39 points; the Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo was up 0.28% to 36,660.93; and the S&P/ASX 200 Index had increased 0.5% to 7513.7 at 6pm NZ time.

The Nikkei is at a 34-year peak and is up more than 9% this year, with investors buoyed by the prospect of stimulus continuing from the Bank of Japan and interest rates remaining in negative territory.

Goodson said the markets were boosted by rumours that China will spend several hundred billion dollars supporting the local sharemarket.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, started in 1896, went over 38,000 points for the first time after gaining 0.36% to 38,001.81 points. The S&P 500 reached a new high after increasing 0.22% to 4850.43, and the technology-driven Nasdaq Composite was up 0.32% to 15,360.28.

Commentators said the moves signalled that Wall Street is indeed in a bull run that began in October 2022 after stocks plunged earlier that year. Wall Street’s strength may depend on whether the Federal Reserve successfully engineers a soft landing, cooling the economy to lower inflation while avoiding a recession.

At home, market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare increased 57c or 2.46% to $23.75; Ebos Group collected 41c to $36.35; Freightways was up 15c or 1.82% to $8.40; Infratil gained 23c or 2.25% to $10.45; Chorus added 10c to $8.35; and Summerset improved 15c to $10.55.

Skellerup Holdings was up 10c or 2.1% to $4.86; Fletcher Building gained 10c or 2.16% to $4.73; Port of Tauranga collected 15c or 2.85% to $5.41; and Vista Group increased 8c or 5.41% to $1.56.

Michael Hill was up 4c or 4.35% to 96c; Smartpay added 4.5c or 2.87% to $1.615; Gentrack collected 16c or 2.5% to $6.56; NZME increased 4c or 4.04% to $1.03; Savor improved 2c or 7.41% to 29c; and Chatham Rock Phosphate rose 1.7c or 12.59% to 15.2c.

In the energy sector, Meridian increased 10c or 1.82% to $5.60; Contact was up 9c to $8.09; Manawa gained 13c or 3.04% to $4; and Mercury picked up 5c to $6.55.

Tourism Holdings gained 9c or 2.49% to $3.70 after telling the market it was buying the South Australian family-owned dealership Camperagent RV Centre for A$11.9m (NZ$12.87m) comprising A$4m goodwill and $7.9m assets, mainly vehicle stock. Tourism Holdings said the purchase is expected to meet a 15% return on funds within its first year.

In the property sector, Stride was down 4c or 2.94% to $1.32; Investore declined 4c or 3.45% to $1.12; and Argosy decreased 2.5c or 2.16% to $1.135.

Winton Land shed 8c or 2.99% to $2.60; Restaurant Brands fell 14c or 3.5% to $3.86; and Briscoe Group was down 8c or 1.74% to $4.52.

Transport and logistics software firm Trade Window gained 1c or 5% to 21c after reporting an additional $1.6m revenue in the third quarter, bringing the total to $4.6m and 94% of the previous year’s result with one quarter to run.

Trade Window, which has reduced staff by 40% to cut costs, confirmed 2024 financial year revenue of $6m-$6.5m.

Software firm Geo Limited has fallen from a peak of $5.31 in early January 2014, soon after listing, to present-day 1.2c and will be delisting from the NZX market on Feb 12, with the final day of trading on Feb 8.

Established in 2009 on a software-as-a-service model, Geo provided a job management app for tradies and opened offices in NZ, Australia, the UK and the United States.

Tags: Market Close