Market commentaries
WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares fell with the major electricity generatorretailers giving up some of their recent gains. Air New Zealand led the market lower.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index declined 60.35 points, or 0.5%, to 11,142.58. Within the index, 25 stocks fell, 19 rose, and six were unchanged. Turnover was $152.3 million.
The major power companies fell, having hit records in recent weeks as the attraction of a reliable dividend prompted investors to bid up the prices at a time when ultralow interest rates deter investment in fixed interest assets.
Contact Energy fell 1.8% to $8.77, Genesis Energy was down 0.7% at $3.61, Meridian Energy declined 1.7% to $5.35 on a volume of 1.8 million shares, and Mercury NZ decreased 1% to $5.54 with 1.1 million shares changing hands.
‘‘The electricity stocks took a bit of a hit today. You’re really looking at the top 20 or so stocks that have come in for a reasonable amount of selling,’’ Grant Williamson, a director at Hamilton Hindin Greene, said.
Globallyexposed companies also came under pressure yesterday.
Air New Zealand led the market lower, down 3.5% at $2.76 on a volume of 1.3 million shares, more than its 90day average of 728,000. A2 Milk fell 2% to $14.60 and Vista Group International was down 1.7% at $4.16. Auckland International Airport dipped 0.1% to $9.50 and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare decreased 0.9% to $17.35.
Pushpay Holdings fell 0.9% to $3.32 on an unusually large volume of 4.4 million shares. It usually trades on a daily volume of 695,000.
Mr Williamson said there was little domestic news to push the local market around, and investors took their cues from overseas leads with Wall Street flat overnight and Asian markets mixed. In recent months, the local market had attracted strong demand when Australia’s market opened.
‘‘We’ve outperformed most of those markets, but today we’re underperforming to a degree. A lot of that is a lack of buying support which hasn’t eventuated,’’ he said.
Spark New Zealand was the most traded stock on a volume of 5.9 million shares, more than its 90day average of 3.4 million. It fell 1.2% to $4.65.
Tourism Holdings rose 4.6% to a sixweek high $4.12 on a volume of 160,000 shares, in line with its average of 153,000. Fletcher Building was up 3.1% at $4.97 on a volume of 1.6 million shares. Both companies are contending with underperforming units.
Of other companies trading on volumes of more than a million shares, Goodman Property Trust was unchanged at $2.24, NZX rose 0.8% to $1.29, and Kiwi Property Group increased 0.3% to $1.685.
Argosy Property was down 1.3% or 2c, at $1.495, after shedding rights to a 1.57c dividend. PGG Wrightson fell 2.4%, or 6c, to $2.41, after giving up rights to a 7.5c dividend.
Outside the benchmark index, Cannasouth rose as high as 84c before sliding back to 54c. The stock ended down 28% on the day after the NZX issued a ‘‘please explain’’ notice on why the stock price had soared 85% during the course of a week. The medicinal cannabis research firm said it complied with the listing rules. It traded on a volume of 2.9 million shares, the most since its listing in June.
Moa Group was unchanged at 30.5c after saying it had agreed to buy Parnell restaurant Non Solo Pizza for $3.75 million. Of that, $3.2 million will be in cash, and will settle at the end of the month. The transaction has the blessing of Moa’s bank.
The Local Government Funding Agency’s 2024 bond paying annual interest of 2.25% was the most traded debt security on a volume of almost 1.8 million. The notes closed at a yield of 1.37%, up 13 basis points. The agency’s 2025 bond paying 2.75% interest was fractionally behind on a volume of almost 1.8 million, closing at a yield of 1.42%, up 6 basis points.
The Australian sharemarket suffered its first loss in four days yesterday, with every sector save energy shares and financials in the red.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed down 33.9 points, or 0.51%, to 6614.1 points, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 32.1 points, or 0.47%, to 6728. — BusinessDesk/AAP
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