NZ stocks rise, buoyed by dairy prices
New Zealand shares rose, helped by steady gains in overseas markets and a better than expected result from the latest dairy auction. The S&P/NZX 50 index rose 62.86 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 9027.44 — its first close above 9000 since early October. Within the index, 32 stocks rose, seven were unchanged and 11 fell. Turnover was $184.5 million.
A2 Milk was the biggest gainer, rising 3.9 per cent to $12.10.
Average prices in the Global Dairy Trade auction rose 4.2 per cent, more than economists had expected.
Westpac, which raised its milk price forecast on the back of the gains in the past four auctions, cautioned that much of the recent gains were driven by Chinese demand — which is at odds with signs of sharply slowing growth there.
Robert Garden, an investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners, said it was good to see the market back above 9000.
Investors are wary about the outlook this year, given the signs of a slowdown both internationally and some slowing here. That makes international leads more important, and some investors may be watching the US earnings season for more guidance, Garden said. In that general mood, “we will tend to follow a bit more what’s happening overseas”. Synlait, up 3.3 per cent at $9.66, was the next biggest gainer. Fonterra units rose 0.2 per cent to $4.72. Spark New Zealand was the heaviest traded stock with 19.8 million shares traded. It was down 0.5 per cent at $4.05.
Other stocks trading more than a million shares included Trade Me .It rose 0.2 per cent to $6.34 with 2.2 million shares changing hands.
Z Energy continued its recent gains, rising 0.7 per cent to $5.70 with 2 million shares traded. Among other stocks beating the one million shares barrier were Fletcher Building, which fell 0.8 per cent to $4.94 and Auckland International Airport, which rose 0.7 per
cent to $7.23. Mercury NZ fell 1.4 per cent to $3.58 while Meridian Energy rose 0.1 per cent to $3.58.
Retailers were mixed after a report showed December retail sales fell 2.3 per cent from November on a seasonally adjusted basis, with spending gaining no apparent boost from lower petrol prices that month.
The Warehouse Group fell 1 per cent to $2.03. Hallenstein Glasson Holdings fell 2.9 per cent to $4.06.
Smith City Group fell 12 per cent to
28 cents, while Briscoe Group was unchanged at $3.28.
Kathmandu rose 2.1 per cent to
$2.40. Michael Hill International fell 3.1 per cent to 62 cents. Almost 2.2 million shares changed hands.