Market commentary
THE two leading stocks, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and a2 Milk, changed gear, posted significant gains, and drove the New Zealand sharemarket to a new high after it recorded its seventh successive daily rise.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index swept past the 12,000 mark, closing with a gain of 219.76 points, or 1.83%, to 12,235.92. It was the highest daily rise since August 17, and the index broke the record of 12,073.34 points set on February 21. The index reached an intraday high of 12,107.45 on that date.
There were 100 gainers and just 35 decliners over the whole market of 181 stocks, and trading was solid, at 47 million shares worth $165.54 million.
A Donald Trump turnaround on the latest United States economic stimulus package, the rebound from Fisher & Paykel and a2 Milk, and another strong day for highyielding local stocks, particularly energy, as interest rates keep falling all combined to push the NZX to a new peak.
The US president sent out a tweet saying he would support targeted economic stimulus bills directed towards households, airlines and small businesses, after earlier dismissing an overall relief package until after the election.
Hamilton Hindin Greene investment adviser Jeremy Sullivan said the stimulus talks were worth 200 points on the New Zealand index.
‘‘The US Federal Reserve indicated it was quite happy with inflation above 2% and to keep printing money. The US is looking at a $US1.6 trillion$US2.4 trillion stimulus [$NZ2.5 trillion$NZ3.6 trillion] — up to 23% of gross domestic product — and that’s some big numbers,’’ Mr Sullivan said.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare had its own big figures, rising $1.14, or 3.42%, to $34.40 on trade worth $22 million. Fisher & Paykel had bottomed out near $33 after falling from $37.68 on August 28. The a2 Milk Company was up 20c to $15.70 on trade worth $12.94 million.
Contact Energy, up 28c, or 3.85%, to $7.55, and Meridian, rising 24c, or 4.56%, to $5.50 both had powerful days, with more than $30.5 million worth of their shares changing hands. Together with Fisher & Paykel and a2, they made up nearly 40% of the trading on the local market.
Mercury Energy rose 14c, or 2.68%, to $5.37, Spark gained 9c to $4.69, Pushpay Holdings was up 29c, or 3.33%, to $8.99, Auckland International Airport climbed 6.5c to $7.60, and Synlait Milk increased 8c to $5.59.
Casino operator SkyCity benefited from Auckland’s return to Alert Level 1, rising 14c, or 4.77%, to $3.14. Cinema software company Vista Group was one of the day’s biggest movers, climbing 14c, or 9.66%, to $1.59.
Retirement village operator Summerset Group rose 15c, or 3.83%, to $9.30 on improved activity. Summerset sold a record 225 new and existing units in the September quarter. Previous quarter sales have averaged 163, and Summerset has bought a 2.8ha site near Half Moon Bay Marina to build its ninth retirement village in Auckland, worth $300 million.
The Warehouse Group reported an unaudited 32% drop in net profit to $44.5 million for the year ending August. The profit included $67.8 million wage subsidies; if the subsidies were not included, the fullyear loss would have been $4.3 million. Revenue was $3.2 billion for the 53 weeks, up 3.3% on the previous year of 52 weeks. The Warehouse is not paying a dividend, and its share price closed unchanged at $2.20 after earlier falling 9c.
Vital Healthcare Property Trust slipped 6.5c, or 2.18%, to $2.915 after completing its $125 million placement of new units, forming the major part of its $150 million capital raising.
On an energised Wall Street overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 530 points, or 1.91%, to $28,303.46. The S&P 500 Index was up 1.74% to 3419.44, and the Nasdaq Composite, which is up 24% for the year, rose 1.88% to 11,364.60. —