NZ sharemarket ends week up slightly

Software firm Gentrack has surged more than 30% in three trading days as the New Zealand sharemarket ended the week with a small gain.

Friday, November 29th 2024, 6:13PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index was steady for most of the day and closed at 13,066.92, up 13.36 points or 0.10%.

The index increased 0.2% for the week and is ahead 11.4% for the year to date. Trading was healthy, with 36.44 million share transactions worth $163.42m.

'Sentiment is improving'

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said the market has just got through a hectic reporting season, and earnings haven’t disappointed as much as in the past.

“It’s the first season where we haven’t seen degrees of downgrades to forecasts. The companies are saying revenue is challenging, but costs are coming in better than we thought, and our forecasts are fine.

“It’s potentially a turning point for earnings and we may have seen the bottom. The latest consumer confidence survey has seen a big jump, and sentiment is improving.

There are green shoots in the economy, in earnings and in the market,” Solly said. The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence index increased 9 points to 99.8 in November. Both the current and future conditions indices lifted markedly, and a net 22% (up 8 points) of the respondents expect to be better off this time next year.

ANZ said potential drivers include interest rate relief, a turn higher in the housing market, and easing inflation – though households will take some convincing on that front, with inflation expectations at 4%.

These factors appear to be outweighing rising unemployment. The November ANZ Business Outlook survey showed that the increase in activity expectations persists.

The improvement in experienced activity also continued, suggesting that interest rate cuts are changing actual behaviour, not just expectations.

“The economy is clearly still very weak, but things are starting to turn higher,” ANZ said.

Business confidence eased 1 point to plus 65 in November, but expected own activity rose 2 points to plus 48. Experienced own activity rose a point to minus 10.

Local stocks

Gentrack, which supplies software solutions to utilities and airports worldwide, climbed a further 50c or 3.69% to a new high of $14.05.

A favourite stock with Australian institutional investors, Gentrack has risen 30.54% since announcing its half-year result on Wednesday, which saw revenue increase by 25.5% with the prospect of more through additional new contracts.

With interest rates falling, the property sector was stronger – up 1.27% on the NZX. Argosy increased 3.5c or 3.3% to $1.095; Investore rose 5c or 4.35% to $1.20; Property for Industry added 3c to $2.18; Goodman Trust was up 2c to $2.08; and Kiwi gained 1c to 94c.

Asset Plus, up 0.005c or 2.08% to 24.5c, has sold 35 Graham St in Auckland for $68m, and $32.97m has been repaid to BNZ. Shareholders will receive a special dividend of 5c a share.

In the retail sector, Hallenstein Glasson increased 19c or 2.53% to $7.70; Briscoe Group gained 10c or 1.9% to $5.35; and Michael Hill was down 2c or 2.99% to 65c.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 20c to $38.05; Port of Tauranga increased 20c or 3.37% to $6.14; South Port NZ gained 14c or 2.69% to $5.34; Vista Group improved 13c or 4.61% to $2.95; and Restaurant Brands collected 17c or 5% to $3.57.

Delegat Group rose 39c or 7.75% to $5.42 after upgrading its earnings; Skellerup increased 12c or 2.34% to $5.25; Seeka was up 5c or 1.72% to $2.95; Allied Farmers gained 4c or 5.26% to 80c; and Tourism Holdings collected 8c or 4.06% to $2.05.

NZX increased 4c or 2.76% to $1.49; Pacific Edge rebounded 0.008c or 6.4% to 13.3c; NZME added 2c or 1.89% to $1.08; AFT Pharmaceuticals gained 9c or 3.19% to $2.91; and Heartland Group was up 2c or 2.08% to 98c.

Solly said there is speculation that Spark (unchanged at $2.93) and Fletcher Building (down 1c to $3.11) may be removed from the Australian ASX 200 index next month.

Auckland International Airport decreased 24c or 3% to $7.76 after international buying dried up; Green Cross Health shed 3c or 3.49% to 83c; Colonial Motor fell 25c or 3.65% to $6.60; and Being AI was down 2.5c or 6.41% to 36.5c.

Marlborough Wine Estates, unchanged at 5.1c, is planning to delist from the NZX after eight years because of softer growth prospects in the short term and the need to reduce costs and improve its balance sheet.

Tags: Market Close