Market falls as Fletcher hits six-month low
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 fell 30.94 points, or 0.4 per cent, 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. The stock fell 2.9 per cent to $5.71, the lowest close since mid-April.
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.
Synlait led the market lower, dropping 5 per cent to $8.70 on light volumes while a2 Milk declined 1.5 per cent to $10.10.
Chorus fell 1.4 per cent 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 32-month low, rising 0.3 per cent to
$5.89 on about three times its average volume at 2.2 million. Restaurant
Brands New Zealand rose 2.4 per cent 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 per cent to 59 cents. Tourism Holdings increased 0.2 per cent to $5.12. Ebos Group advanced
0.5 per cent to $21.40. Sky Network
Television rose 1.8 per cent to $2.32 on moderate volumes.
Retirement village operators were weaker. Metlifecare declined 1.7 per cent to $5.85, Ryman Healthcare fell
1.6 per cent to $11.60, and Summerset Group dropped 1.2 per cent to $6.52 on more than three times its average volume at 1.1 million shares. Kathmandu increased 1.1 per cent to $2.67 on 2.9 million shares, more than twice its average volume. Other busy stocks included Contact Energy, which slipped 0.9 per cent to $5.53. Kiwi Property Group declined
0.8 per cent to $1.33, Goodman Property Trust was unchanged at $1.53 and Auckland International Airport was up 1.3 per cent at $6.90. Skellerup Holdings was unchanged at $2.09.
Steel & Tube Holdings was unchanged at $1.36 after it said a record $1.9m fine for making misleading representations about the testing methodologies used in some steel mesh products wouldn’t affect this financial year’s result. NZME was unchanged at 63 cents after it gave up on a planned merger with Stuff. The media companies won’t appeal the rejection of their merger to the Supreme Court.