NZ sharemarket falls, Hallenstein Glasson jumps

Clothing retailer Hallenstein Glasson received its own Christmas present, an all-time high for its share price, while the New Zealand market drifted lower on lighter trade.

Wednesday, December 18th 2024, 6:27PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index had a flourish over lunchtime but then fell away and closed at 12,865.55, down 48.75 points or 0.38% after reaching an intraday high of 12,914.3.

As the Christmas break draws near, volumes slipped to 31.06 million share transactions worth $122.83m.

'Cautious'

Consumer sentiment is improving leading into the holiday season. The Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index rose seven points in December to 97.5 – the most upbeat households have been since 2021 but still below the neutral mark of 100 points.

Westpac said underpinning the rise in consumer confidence has been easing pressure on households’ finances as inflation and borrowing costs have fallen. Households are also feeling more confident about where the economy is heading over the coming year.

“Most New Zealand households aren’t going on a spending spree this holiday season. They remain cautious about making big-ticket purchases for now – however, we are spending more in bars and restaurants,” the bank said.

On the housing front, the seasonally-adjusted REINZ House Price Index increased 0.2% in November, following October’s 0.4% fall. Sales volume was down 2%, and days to sell increased from 46 to 48.

Auckland house prices rose 0.6% in November. “All up, we’d categorise the data as mixed, though consistent with a stabilisation in house prices, reinforcing our expectation for a recovery over 2025,” ANZ Research said.

In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for the ninth successive day after declining 0.61% to 43,449.9 points. The S&P 500 was down 0.39% to 6,050.61 points, and Nasdaq Composite shed 0.32% to 20,109.06.

Local stocks

At home, Hallenstein Glasson collected 12c to $8.02, its highest price since listing in 1985. The trans-Tasman retailer earlier told the market that sales for the first 18 weeks of the 2025 financial year had increased by 10.1%.

Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Management Funds, said Hallenstein executes extremely well even with a challenging backdrop in the retail sector. “At the end of the day, it is a very good retailer and doesn’t need to take fashion range risks.”

Mercury Energy increased 18.5c or 3.11% to $6.13 after confirming the construction of the first wind farm in Northland, with full generation by the end of 2026. The $287m Kaiwaikawe project near Dargaville is part of Mercury’s $1 billion commitment to new renewables over two years.

The new wind farm with 12 turbines will generate 221GWh a year, enough renewable electricity to power 27,000 homes, and construction will start in January.

Ebos Group, falling 90c or 2.42% to $36.25, and Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, shedding 39c to $37.85, led the market down.

Freightways declined 33c or 3.06% to $10.47; Meridian eased 9c to $5.65; Skellerup was down 12c or 2.29% to $5.11; Summerset shed 16c to $12.69; Winton Land fell 11c or 5.58% to $1.86; and Restaurant Brands was down 20c or 4.85% to $3.92.

Port of Tauranga eased 10c to $6.50; Seeka was down 8c or 2.48% to $3.15; Third Age Health fell 9c or 3.85% to $2.25; Smartpay shed 2.5c or 3.68% to 65.5c; Bremworth was down 1.5c or 3.9% to 37c and Blackpearl declined 7c or 5.69% to $1.16.

Ryman Healthcare was up 10c or 2.33% to $4.40; Fletcher Building added 5c or 1.77% to $2.87; Sanford gained 7c to $4.24; and Channel Infrastructure collected 8c or 4.42% to $1.89.

Santana Minerals increased 3.5c or 7.07% to 53c; AFT Pharmaceuticals improved 5c or 1.82% to $2.80; TradeWindow gained 0.008c or 4.17% to 20c; and Savor was up 2c or 8.7% to 25c.

In the property sector, Investore rose 6c or 5.56% to $1.14; Kiwi declined 3.5c to $13.04; and Property for Industry was down 4.5c or 2.05% to $2.145.

Wine exporters Delegat Group was down 6c to $5.04, and Foley increased 6c or 11.54% to 58c.

Air NZ, up 0.005c to 56c, reported a steady month of activity with 1.3m passengers carried compared with 1.28m in November last year. Domestic passengers slipped 1.2% from 882,000 to 871,000; the Tasman Pacific route was slightly ahead with 297,000 passengers compared with 290,000; and long haul increased 7.3% from 126,000 to 136,00.

Radius Residential Care, up 1.6c or 9.3% to 18.8c, will begin an on-market buy-back programme of up to 2m shares or 0.7%. Radius said the buy-back reflects its confidence in growth opportunities and the view that the company’s shares are undervalued.

Tags: Market Close