NZ sharemarket boosted by energy stocks, Fletcher

The New Zealand sharemarket began the second half of the year with a rise of more than 0.5%, boosted by the leading energy stocks and a rebound from Fletcher Building after completing a major hotel project..

Monday, July 1st 2024, 6:30PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index traded steadily all day and closed at 11,789.39 points, up 71.95 points or 0.61%. The index was down 1% for the first half of the year.

There were 66 gainers and 78 decliners on the main board, with 39.36 million shares worth $151.31m changing hands.

Mark Lister, investment director with Craigs Investment Partners, said there weren’t many major share-price moves, but “you can’t underestimate the energy companies, which have big weightings and can push the market around”.

Meridian increased 31c or 4.93% to $6.60; Mercury was up 14.5c or 2.21%; and Contact gained 12c to $9.12. Contact told the market it is building a 100MW battery energy storage system next to NZ Steel and Transpower’s grid connection point.

Contact has consent to build another 100MW grid-scale battery in Stratford, Taranaki.

Lister said there was a little bit of optimism on the market that inflation was coming under control.

“In the Business Outlook survey last week, firms’ pricing intentions fell quite dramatically. This is a good indicator that inflation is heading down and the economy is responding to what the Reserve Bank has been doing.

“We will see if the Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion, out this week, is telling us something similar. If it does, then official cash rate cuts may happen before the end of the year,” Lister said.

“The surveys provide an interesting set-up for next week’s Reserve Bank meeting and whether there will be a change in (monetary policy) tone.”

In the United States, the Core Personal Consumption Expenditures price index – a preferred inflation guide for the Federal Reserve – increased just 0.1% in May, up 2.6% for the year but down from 2.8% in April.

Inflation there has reached its lowest level since March 2021 and increased hopes for an interest rate cut in September.

Local market

At home, Fletcher Building increased 18c or 6.36% to $3.01 after telling the market it has handed the five-star Horizon Hotel in Auckland to SkyCity Entertainment. Work was completed on June 27.

Fletcher has also settled its remaining contract works insurance claims involving the NZ International Convention Centre (NZICC) with the project insurers and SkyCity. Fletcher’s provision of $165m for completing the NZICC at the end of the year is unchanged.

SkyCity, up 2c to $1.48, said the 303-room Horizon Hotel will open on Aug 1, joining the Grand and SkyCity Hotels with a total of nearly 1,000 rooms in the Auckland precinct.

S&P Global Ratings has affirmed SkyCity’s BBB-long-term credit rating and stable outlook.

Mainfreight increased $1.62 or 2.4% to $69.25; a2 Milk was up 15c or 2.11% to $7.25; Freightways collected 12c to $7.82; Port of Tauranga gained 9c or 1.91% to $4.81; and Sky TV rose 9c or 3.83% to $2.44.

Precinct Properties was up 2c or 1.79% to $1.135; Rakon increased 3c or 4.29% to 73c; South Port NZ added 10c or 1.78% to $5.71; Eroad improved 3c or 2.97% to $1.04; and Green Cross Health added 3c or 4.23% to 74c.

In the retail sector, Briscoe Group increased 23c or 5.94% to $4.10; KMD Brands gained 1c or 2.86% to 36c; Hallenstein Glasson declined 12c or 2.15% to $5.45; and The Warehouse Group was down 2c or 2% to 98c. Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 13c to $29.95; Spark decreased 7c to $4.09 on trade worth $22.19m; Skellerup shed 7c or 1.86% to $3.69; and Heartland Group declined 2c or 2.02% to 97c.

Arvida Group eased 2c or 2.15% to 91c; Restaurant Brands declined 11c or 3.67% to $2.89; NZX decreased 2c or 1.87% to $1.05; and NZ King Salmon Investments was down 1c or 3.92% to 24.5c.

Ventia Services, down 10c or 2.37% to $4.12, has renewed a five-year, $570m maintenance contract with Homes NSW, delivering more than 350,000 programmes of work annually.

Me Today was down 0.001c to 8c after announcing a 10-year licensing agreement with a Chinese sports nutrition company, which will market its healthcare products on the Tik Tok channel Douyin. Me Today said it is opening an office in Hangzhou with a team of 20.

New Talisman Gold Mines went into a trading halt on the NZX after its shares were suspended on the Australian exchange until the miner demonstrated compliance with ASX listing rules.

The ASX said New Talisman’s financial condition was “not adequate to warrant continued quotation of its securities.” The stock last traded at 2.3c in NZ.

Tags: Market Close