Market commentaries
AUCKLAND: New Zealand shares fell for a fourth session as Fletcher Building dropped to a sixmonth low and dairy companies A2 Milk and Synlait Milk remained under pressure.
The S&P/NZX 50 index declined 30.94 points, or 0.4%, to 8642.24. Within the index, 26 stocks fell, 19 gained and five were unchanged. Turnover was $140.3 million.
Fletcher was one of the more active stocks with 2.8 million shares traded, almost twice the normal volume. The stock fell 2.9% to $5.71, the lowest close since midApril.
Greg Smith, head of research at Fat Prophets, said Fletcher doesn’t have the tailwind of a booming building sector, and investors are still waiting on the outcome of the sale of its international business.
‘‘It looks like suggestions the share price bottomed out around $6 in September proved premature,’’ he said.
Synlait led the market lower, dropping 5% to $8.70 on light volumes while A2 declined 1.5% to $10.10. The milk processor and milk marketing firm have been strong performers on the benchmark index over the past two years. They have given up some of those gains in recent months as investors reassess the optimism built into the share price over future earnings.
Chorus fell 1.4% to $4.485 after reaching an arrangement with the Government setting price caps until a new regulatory regime comes into effect in 2020. Spark New Zealand, the biggest user of the regulated lines, was unchanged at $3.86. The stock was the most traded yesterday on a volume of 3.8 million.
Z Energy bounced from a 32month low, rising 0.3% to $5.89 on about three times its average volume at 2.2 million. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday ruled out any further regional fuel taxes.
Restaurant Brands New Zealand rose 2.4% to $8.46, after receiving a partial takeover notice last week from Mexico’s Finaccess Capital. SLI Systems, which is also under takeover offer, rose 5.4%$ to 59c. Tourism Holdings, which is in talks to sell some of its businesses, increased 0.2% to $5.12. Ebos Group, which is buying out a junior partner in an Australian retail pharmacy chain, advanced 0.5% to $21.40.
Sky Network Television rose 1.8% to $2.32 on moderate volumes. Mr Smith said the payTV operator had been recovering as investors regained confidence in its plans to compete more vigorously with online streaming rivals.
Retirement village operators were weaker. Metlifecare declined 1.7% to $5.85, Ryman Healthcare fell 1.6% to $11.60, and Summerset Group dropped 1.2% to $6.52 on more than three times its average volume at 1.1 million shares.
Kathmandu increased 1.1% to $2.67 on 2.9 million shares, more than twice its average volume. Other busy stocks included Contact Energy, which slipped 0.9% to $5.53 on volume of 2.1 million shares. Kiwi Property Group declined 0.8% to $1.33 on 2.9 million shares, Goodman Property Trust was unchanged at $1.53 with 1.2 million shares traded and Auckland International Airport was up 1.3% at $6.90 on volume of 1.3 million.
Skellerup Holdings was unchanged at $2.09 after saying firstquarter earnings were more than 10% higher than a year earlier and annual profitability was expected to improve.
NZME was unchanged at 63c after it gave up on a planned merger with rival Stuff. The media companies will not appeal the rejection of their merger to the Supreme Court.
A The Australian sharemarket’s weak October trend continued yesterday, with lower commodity prices weighing on the indices.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 14.1 points, or 0.24%, at 5829.0, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 18.4 points, or 0.31%, at 5926.5.