Market commentary
WELLINGTON: A buoyant New Zealand sharemarket made another healthy gain on strong turnover yesterday.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index, already cruising in a new orbit, rose 114.60 points or 0.91% to 12,667.98, after hitting an intraday high of 12,709.90. There were 92 gainers and 49 decliners, with 64 million shares worth $297.97 million changing hands.
Sam Dickie, senior portfolio manager with Fisher Funds, said there were lots of random moves — especially among the rotation stocks — on the back of the strong overseas markets, supercharged by the vaccine developments.
Fisher and Paykel Healthcare had a crazy day after reporting an expected strong result for the six months to September. Its share price rose to $35.26 before plunging late in the day to $33.55, down 50c or 1.47%, on trade worth $79.4 million.
Among the rotation stocks, Auckland International Airport was up 14c at $7.80; Air New Zealand climbed 4.5c or 2.44% to $1.89; cinema software firm Vista Group increased 6c or 3.45% to $1.80; and Millennium and Copthorne Hotels New Zealand gained 16c or 7.37% to $2.33.
Mainfreight romped to $61 after rising $1.15c or 1.92%; a2 Milk was up 12c at $14.50 on trade worth $13.5 million; Freightways gained 16c to a new high of $9.54; Ryman Healthcare recovered 28c or 1.95% to $14.61; and Hallenstein Glasson increased 26c or 3.95% to $6.85.
Fletcher Building told shareholders at its annual meeting it now expected operating earnings for the halfyear ending December to be nearly $100 million ahead of the previous corresponding period. Its share price rose 21c or 3.7% to $5.88.
Wine exporter Delegat’s share price rose 25c to $15.75.
Manuka honey producer Comvita rose 6c or 1.9% to $3.22 after telling the market it was the thirdhighest seller among New Zealand brands in Alibaba’s big Singles Day sale on November 11.
Turners Automotive Group’s revenue fell 14% to $147.54 million, but its net profit increased 25% to $13.41 million for the six months ending September. Its share price rose 9c or 3.2% to $2.90.