NZ sharemarket has its best week of 2024

The New Zealand sharemarket recorded its best week for the year, with the retirement village operators standing out.

Friday, July 12th 2024, 6:33PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index traded strongly from lunchtime and closed at 12,134.97, up 76.68 points or 0.64% after reaching a morning low of 11,995.95.

The index rose 2.85% for the week, 3.3% for the month to date, and is now ahead more than 3% for the year.

There were 100 gainers and 41 decliners amongst the 180 listed stocks, with 36.47 million shares worth $107.16m changing hands.

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said it was another green day on the screen and the NZ market had got its mojo back.

“There were more buyers than sellers, showing investors were under-exposed in some of our good businesses. We are at the start line for a better run from the market, though there will be some bumps along the way in the coming company reporting season.

“The turnaround happened after the Reserve Bank began moving away from its restrictive stance.

There was more data today and more fuel for the bank to consider cutting interest rates earlier and larger,” Solly said.

The June ANZ merchant and card spending data showed sales volumes were still falling, with annual growth going under 1%. Spending on durables, clothing and the housing-related market was weak and tourism spending had a sharp fall.

The only categories not in the red year-on-year were miscellaneous services and goods, including supermarkets, utilities and repairs.

The BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index fell to 41.1 in June, from 46.6 in May – the lowest level since the global financial crisis in 2008. Production was particularly weak.

In the United States, annual inflation has fallen to 3% from 3.3% after the June consumer price declined 0.1% in June. The lower-than-expected inflation result increased hopes for interest rate cuts there as well.

The "Magnificent Seven" technology stocks suffered – Nvidia was down 5.57% to US$127.40, Tesla fell 8.44% to US$241.03, and Meta (Facebook) declined 4.11% to US$512.70.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both came off their highs, falling 0.88% to 5584.54 points and 1.95% to 18,283.41 respectively.

At home, the retirement stocks - buffeted by high interest rates - continued to rebound. Summerset increased 36c or 3.62% to $10.31; Ryman Healthcare rose 27c or 7.01% to $4.12; Oceania Healthcare was up 2c or 3.77% to 55c; and Arvida Group gained 4c or 4.21% to 99c.

Mainfreight collected a further $2.95 or 3.99% to $76.95; Freightways rose 30c or 3.17% to $8.40; Fletcher Building increased 9c or 2.95% to $3.14; Ebos Group added 53c to $33.98; Contact Energy gained 15c to $8.55; and Auckland International Airport was up 17c or 2.2% to $7.89.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 81c or 2.57% to $30.75; Infratil declined 21c to $10.97; Restaurant Brands shed 10c or 3.77% to $2.55; Sky TV decreased 9c or 3.47% to $2.51; Delegat Group shed 10c or 1.85% to $5.30; and PGG Wrightson was down 13c or 5.91% to $2.07.

Synlait was up 1.5c or 4.69% to 33.5c as it gets ready to repay $130m of bank debt next week, and a2 Milk was down 5c to $7.58.

Port of Tauranga increased 16c or 3.02% to $5.45; SkyCity was up 4c or 2.67% to $1.54; Colonial Motor Co gained 17c or 2.64% to $6.60; Stride Property improved 4c or 3.33% to $1.24; Argosy Property added 2.5c or 2.44% to $1.05; and Tower was up 3.5c or 3.87% to 94c.

In the retail sector, Hallenstein Glasson increased 17c or 3.18% to $5.52; Briscoe Group was up 7c to $4.15 and Michael Hill gained 2c or 3.7% to 56c.

Meridian Energy, up 9c to $6.58, reported national hydro storage declined from 72% to 65% of the historical average in the month to July 10, and retail sales volumes were down 5.5% in June compared with the same month last year.

Fourth-quarter inflows were 86% of the historical average, 33% lower than the same period last year, and generation declined 10.7% but at a 269.3% increase in average price.

CDL Investments gained 3c or 4.29% to 73c after telling the market it was buying 10.08 hectares in the Christchurch suburb of Burnside for $17.1m, with plans to develop it into 15-17 industrial lots.

NZME, down 4c or 3.74% to $1.03, confirmed it was meeting continuous disclosure obligations after receiving a price inquiry from the NZX. NZME’s share price increased 17% in one week.

Move Logistics, unchanged at 23.5c, announced its chief executive Craig Evans was stepping down on October 24 after less than two years in the role.

Tags: Market Close