Mercury leads sharemarket higher
NZ Refining stock falls amid pipeline repair, while Synlait retreats from high
New Zealand shares rose for a second day as stocks weighed down by fears about the jet fuel shortage in Auckland such as Air New Zealand and Z Energy joined other companies in bouncing back from a recent selldown.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index gained 54.71 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 7819.24. Within the index, 23 stocks rose, 22 fell and five were unchanged. Turnover was $156 million.
Air New Zealand and Z gained after coming under pressure in recent days as investors weighed up the impact of damage to the pipeline linking the Marsden Point refinery to Auckland, leading to a shortage of jet fuel at Auckland International Airport. rose 1.3 per cent to $3.24, gained 2.3 per cent to $7.57
increased 1.1
Air NZ Z Energy Auckland Airport
and per cent to $6.45.
“A few names feel like they’re bouncing back after being under a little bit of pressure for a few days,” said James Lindsay, a senior portfolio manager at Nikko Asset Management. “Some of the stocks related to the pipeline incident — Auckland Airport, Air New Zealand — feel better bid today.” That didn’t extend to
which fell 0.8 per cent to $2.42. The refinery operator still expects to resume service on the pipeline some time between Sunday and Tuesday.
Lindsay said other companies bouncing back had been sold off in recent days, such as telecommunications network operator power company and breathing mask maker
which rose 2.3 per cent to $4.01, 2.9 per cent to $3.355, and 2.5 per cent to $12.45 respectively. Mercury led the index higher.
land Refining New Zea-
Chorus, cury NZ Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Mer-
“A number of offshore orders were driving the market’s performance and maybe they’ve cleared or finished their lines and allowed the stock to recover from weakness,” Lindsay said. “It’s a wee bit of a relief rally in a few names.”
was the worst per-
Synlait Milk
former on the day, falling 2.5 per cent to $5.40. However, the stock reached an all-time high on Tuesday after posting an 11 per cent increase in annual profit and has been a beneficiary of the rapid growth at A2 Milk, which it supplies. rose 1.9 per cent to $6.
A2 Fletcher Building
slipped 0.1 per cent to $8.16 after kicking off a boardroom refresh with the departure of directors John Judge and Kate Spargo, who has joined ASX-listed Cimic Group’s board. Fletcher wants their replacements to have construction and contracting experience.
A number of companies held their annual meetings yesterday, including
which increased 0.2 per cent to $2.40, and
which was unchanged at 95c. Outside the benchmark index,
rose 1.7 per cent to $1.17 after chair Andrew Ferrier told shareholders the board is whittling down the options on the table in a strategic review, while
rose 1 per cent to $3.18 after providing guidance that pre-tax earnings could rise by as much as 26 per cent.
Genesis Energy Health Orion Health Group SeaDragon Oceania Turners Automotive
was unchanged at 0.6 of a cent after telling shareholders it expected to report a smaller annual loss in the upcoming year and was exploring toll manufacturing of concentrated fish oil rather than redeveloping its old omega-2 refinery for boutique applications.