NZ sharemarket celebrates highest single-day rise in over five months
Strong performances from Fisher and Paykel Healthcare and Ebos pushed the New Zealand sharemarket to its highest single-day rise in over five months – up more than 1%.
Wednesday, April 24th 2024, 6:32PM
by BusinessDesk
The S&P/NZX 50 Index climbed steadily in the afternoon before the Anzac Day break and closed at 11,946.43, increasing 143.15 points or 1.21% after reaching an intraday low of 11,784.53.
The previous best day was a gain of 1.61% to 11,352.84 on Nov 15.
There were 90 gainers and 52 decliners over the whole market on volumes of 28.34 million share transactions worth $95.96m.
Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, which has a 13.2% weighting on the NZX 50, surged $1.33 or 2.79% to a 12-month high of $27.87. Ebos Group, with a 4.7% weighting, was up 66c or 1.9% to $35.45.
The local market ignored a hotter-than-expected inflation rate in Australia.
Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said the higher consumer price index (CPI) in Australia would likely encourage the Reserve Bank there to keep its official cash rate on hold for the remainder of the year.
“Our market shook that off,” he said. “The half-yearly review of the MSCI Large Cap Index finishes at the end of this month and it’s still a line-ball call whether Ebos falls out.”
The March quarter CPI in Australia increased 1% compared with 0.6% at the end of December and ahead of the 0.8% forecast.
At the end of March, annual inflation was 3.6%, lower than 4.1% in December but again ahead of the forecast of 3.5%. Rents and education costs increased and piled further pressure on the cost of living, dimming hopes of an interest rate cut this year.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell after the release of the CPI and was trading at 7,690.7 points, up just 0.09%, at 6pm NZ time.
In the United States, the major indices rose sharply for the second day running. Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.69% to 38,503.69 points; the S&P 500 increased 1.2% to 5070.55; and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.59% to 15,696.64.
Tesla was up more than 10% in after-hours trading to US$163.96 (NZ$275.93) after telling the market it is accelerating the launch of more affordable new models of electric vehicles.
Tesla’s first-quarter result was lower than expected, with revenue of US$21.3 billion, down 9%, and earnings of US$1.1b, down 55%.
Spotify surged 11.4% to US$303.31 after beating first-quarter estimates – revenue was €3.61b (NZ$6.5b) – and is forecasting strong second-quarter earnings guidance.
Local market
At home, Auckland International Airport was up 8c to $7.87; a2 Milk gained 16c or 2.52% to $6.52; The Warehouse increased 5c or 3.68% to $1.41; Skellerup added 4c to $4.49; and Hallenstein Glasson rose 16c or 2.74% to $6.01.
In the energy sector, Contact gained 10c to $8.63; Mercury was up 7c to $6.45; and Manawa declined 11c or 2.44% to $4.39.
Summerset Group gained 7c to $11.17 after telling shareholders at the annual meeting that it was on track to deliver 675-725 new homes in the 2024 financial year and will be opening the Auckland St Johns Village and main building at the Lower Hutt Boulcott Village. The key will be executing new sales at these villages.
Heartland Group was up 2c or 1.92% to $1.06 after raising $79m from the retail entitlement offer with support from 81% of the shareholders. The bank has completed its $210m capital raising, having gained $131m from institutional placement.
Other gainers were Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund, up 9c or 2.5% to $3.69; NZX, increasing 3c or 2.65% to $1.16; Stride Property, improving 3c or 2.36% to $1.30; and Gentrack adding 12c to $8.24.
Freightways declined 20c or 2.35% to $8.30; Fletcher Building eased 9c or 2.27% to $3.88; PGG Wrightson decreased 4c or 1.98% to $1.98; CDL Investments was down 2c or 2.56% to 78c; Eroad gave up 3c or 3.7% to 86c; and Blackpearl Group shed 4c or 5.97% to 63c.
AFT Pharmaceuticals was down 6c or 1.92% to $3.07 after telling the market it was now developing a topical treatment for strawberry birthmarks in children, in conjunction with Massey Ventures and Wellington-based Gillies McIndoe Research Institute.
| « NZ sharemarket down after yesterday's gain | NZ sharemarket rocked by US inflation data » |
Special Offers
Comments from our readers
No comments yet
Sign In to add your comment
|
|
Printable version |
|
Email to a friend |
