NZ sharemarket flat, on track for monthly return of over 5%

The New Zealand sharemarket traded flat for most of the day, but it is on track for a healthy monthly return of more than 5%.

Thursday, July 18th 2024, 6:22PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index dipped in the morning and recovered in the afternoon to close at 12,329.44, up 37.41 points or 0.3%, helped by a late rise in the broker matching session.

So far in July, the index has climbed 5.1%, and should it maintain that momentum, it will be the best month since November last year.

There were 71 gainers and 66 decliners on the main board, with 27.43 million shares worth $94.88m changing hands. The main board will be boosted by the listing of Brisbane-based Santana Minerals next week.

Mark Lister, investment director with Craigs Investment Partners, said the local market has had a string of positive days, reaching two-year highs, and a quiet day was not surprising. Australia also took a breather, and it was a mixed bag internationally.

“The theme across the market is moderating inflation, weaker economic data and interest rate cuts coming earlier than expected. Next month’s reporting season is expected to be lacklustre, but investors are looking six to 12 months ahead with the lower interest rates.”

Lister said the market has turned “a bit of a corner,” and it is a good time for investors to review their strategies.

“The rotation to cyclical stocks may be more sustained as the market finds itself in a stronger position.”

On Wall Street, the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average surged through the 41,000 mark for the first time after gaining 0.59% to 41,198.08 points as the bull market broadened beyond the big technology names.

The Dow Jones has risen 4.6% over the last seven trading days.

The S&P 500 declined 1.39% to 5,588.27 points, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 2.77% to 17,996.92 - its worst session since December 2022.

Semiconductor stocks tumbled – Nvidia was down 6.64% to US$177.97 – as the US government threatened tougher restrictions on trading chips with China amid escalating trade tensions.

Local market

At home, Ebos Group gained 50c to $34.60; Mercury Energy increased 24c or 3.47% to $7.15; Contact collected 11c to $8.69; Fletcher Building added 6c or 1.85% to $3.30; and Turners Automotive increased 12c or 2.93% to $4.22.

Market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 33c to $31.35.

In the resurgent retirement village sector, Oceania Healthcare increased 3c or 5.17% to 61c, and Summerset was down 14c to $10.40. Ryman Healthcare has risen 20% this month; Oceania 17%; Arvida Group more than 10%; and Summerset 9%.

Vista Group was up 6c or 2.55% to $2.41; Serko added 8c or 2.12% to $3.86; Eroad increased 6c or 4.76% to $1.32; and Tourism Holdings gained 5c or 2.48% to $2.07.

AFT Pharmaceuticals was up 6c or 2.04% to $3; Investore gained 3c or 2.83% to $1.09; Move Logistics recovered 1.5c or 6.67% to 24c; and Blackpearl Group rose 6c or 9.23% to 71c.

In the retail sector, The Warehouse rebounded 4c or 3.96% to $1.05; Michael Hill increased 3c or 5.26% to 60c; and KMD Brands gained 2.5c or 6.49% to 41c.

Tower declined 2.5c or 2.63% to 92.5c; Bremworth was down 2c or 4.76% to 40c; Colonial Motor decreased 14c or 2.02% to $6.08; and Marsden Maritime Holdings eased 9c or 2.61% to $3.36.

Chorus, unchanged at $7.96, said there was no error in applying the fibre input methodologies to its pass-through costs as suggested in the Commerce Commission’s draft decision on the price-quality path.

The commission suggested the error had a potential value of $60m.

The draft decision outlined annual revenues of $908m to $1.018 billion, including pass-through costs, for fibre's second regulatory period of 2025-28. ComCom is expected to determine the final expenditure allowances in August.

SkyCity Entertainment, unchanged at $1.53, told the market it would be closing its Auckland casino operations for five successive days for past breaches of host responsibility after reaching an agreement with the Secretary of Internal Affairs.

The shutdown would cost the company about $5m, and SkyCity has adjusted full-year operating earnings (ebitda) to $245m-$265m. SkyCity acknowledged not meeting its host responsibility programme on the detection of continuous play by one customer from August 2017 to February 2021 due to a design error in a technology system.

Santana Minerals, already listed on the Australian Securities Exchange at A$1.18 (NZ$1.30), will begin trading on the NZX next Thursday as a foreign-exempt issuer.

Santana plans to develop its Bendigo-Ophir gold project in Central Otago, with the potential for more than 2.4m ounces of gold. The current trading price for gold is more than US$2,467 (NZ$4,061) a troy ounce, an all-time high.

Tags: Market Close