Market commentaries

WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares rose in light trading, led higher by Auckland International Airport and Westpac Banking Corp, although Heartland Bank and Fletcher Building softened.

The S&P/NZX50 Index gained 37.21 points, or 0.4%, to 9062.85. Within the index, 23 stocks rose, 19 fell and eight were unchanged. Turnover was $97 million.

‘‘It has been a pretty dull old day really,’’ said Grant Williamson, director at Hamilton Hindin Greene. The NZX50 has gained 1.3% this week, despite trading being light ahead of local school holidays and with few corporate announcements, and Mr Williamson said ‘‘just a few stocks have pushed the index’’ up to its current levels.

Auckland Airport led the index higher, up 2.4% to $6.93. Westpac gained 2.1% to $32.30, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group rose 2% to $31.36, and Trustpower rallied 1.8% to $5.75. A2 Milk Co gained 1.3% to $11.55.

The worst performer was Heartland Bank, down 2.3% to $1.71. Fletcher Building dropped 2.1% to $6.85 and Skellerup Holdings fell 1% to $1.96.

Ebos Group dipped 0.5% to $20.70. The share price has surged from $17.95 since Monday, when it announced a distribution deal with Australia’s Chemist Warehouse which could bring in $A1 billion of revenue in the first year. The two expect to sign a fiveyear supply agreement, starting July 2019, which could be extended by three years, after Ebos won the tender to be the exclusive thirdparty distributor of pharmaceutical products to over 400 Chemist Warehouse and My Chemist stores in Australia.

Financial stocks continue to seesaw on the Australian sharemarket, which closed in the green despite a tough day for the major miners.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 closed up 32.1 points, or 0.52%, at 6215.5.

CommSec chief market analyst Steven Daghlian said the financial sector rose 1% yesterday, but cautioned investors should not read too much into the result.

Commonwealth Bank was the biggest winner among the big four banks, advancing 1.2% to $74.46, followed by ANZ, up 1.2% to $28.43, while Westpac added 1% to $29.53 and NAB rose 0.5% to $27.52.

The major miners lost ground after a dip in the price of iron ore and base metals overnight, with Rio Tinto slumping 1.2% to $79.21 and the more diversified BHP losing 0.5% to $32.87.

Caltex Australia was up 0.3% to $32.56 after inking a 15year fuel supply deal with supermarket giant Woolworths.

Higher oil prices helped boost other energy stocks, with Woodside Petroleum rising 0.5% to $35.47, Santos gaining 0.3% to $6.24 and Oil Search adding 0.1% to $8.91.

The Australian dollar was stronger compared with its US counterpart yesterday but remains relatively low, having progressively fallen against the greenback for four weeks.

The Australian dollar was trading at US73.74c at 1630 AEST yesterday, from US74.12c on Wednesday.

The All Ordinaries index was up 29.2 points, or 0.47%, at 6302.9. The SPI200 futures contract was up 30 points, or 0.49%, at 6167. — BusinessDesk/ Reuters/AAP