Market commentaries
WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares gained yesterday, led by A2 Milk Co and Fletcher Building, while TeamTalk extended its rally. Metro Performance Glass and Infratil fell.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 68.34 points, or 1%, to 7133.56. Within the index, 32 stocks rose, 12 fell and six were unchanged. Turnover was $137 million.
A2 Milk led the index, gaining 3.9% to $2.96, a record high, and Air New Zealand continued Tuesday’s gains, up 3.8% to $2.46.
Fletcher Building rose 3.8% to $8.25, having dropped 25% so far this year after its firsthalf earnings disappointed the market in February, with a cut to its fullyear guidance last week accelerating that decline.
Genesis Energy was the worst performer, down 9.5c or 4.4% to $2.05 after shedding rights to an 8.2c dividend.
Metro Glass dropped 4.3% to $1.34 and has fallen 30% so far this year, making it the worst performer on the NZX 50.
Infratil dropped 2.1% to $2.85. The Wellingtonbased investment firm is anticipating flat earnings in the 2018 financial year but is confident it can keep boosting returns to shareholders and is still on the prowl for new acquisitions.
TeamTalk rose 2.9% to $1.07. The telecommunications minnow has been in a war of words with Spark after independent adviser Grant Samuel & Associates found the underlying value of TeamTalk is between $1.52 to $2.11 per share — well above Spark’s 80c offer for the company.
Synlait Milk fell 5.7% to $3.30. The dairy company posted a 3.8% lift in firsthalf profit to $10.6 million as higher sales offset increased investment in people and business development. It reiterated that it expects ‘‘modest’’ growth in full year profit, followed by a higher rate of profit growth in its 2018 year and beyond.
Gentrack Group gained 6.8% to $3.95. It has agreed to acquire the UK’s Junifer Systems for about $79 million.
The Australian sharemarket is close to a twoyear high after demand for the big four banks, energy producers and miners drove a second straight day of strong gains.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 rose 0.9% to close at its highest level since April 28, 2015, following a gain of 1.3% on Tuesday.
Westpac shares rose 1.3%, and its rivals gains were closer to 1%.
The energy sector, led by Woodside Petroleum and Caltex Australia, was boosted by a rise in oil prices rose of more than 1% following a disruption to Libyan supplies.
Origin Energy also found support, gaining 2.2% after signing two agreements to supply gas for French energy major Engie’s operations in South Australia.
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto gained ground as the price of iron ore rose about 1.5% in Asian trading, and oil prices continued to improve.
Ramsay Health Care, Cochlear and CSL pushed the health care sector up 1.1%.
Bucking the broader market was Thorn Group, which dropped 11.7% after a class action was filed against one of its companies, Radio Rentals, for alleged deception of customers.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 gained 52.3 points, or 0.9%, to 5873.5 points. The broader All Ordinaries index gained 50.3 points, or 0.86%, to 5910.7 points. The June SPI200 futures contract was up 47 points, or 0.81%, at 5860 points.
National turnover was 3.1 billion securities traded worth $6.7 billion. — BusinessDesk/AAP