Shares makes gains ahead of earnings season

New Zealand shares gained in the run-up to corporate earnings season, with Contact Energy the first major company out of the blocks on Monday. Australian results have been mixed so far this week.

The S&P/NZX 50 index rose 43.1 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 9176.61. Within the index, 24 stocks gained, 20 fell and six were unchanged. Turnover was $101 million.

Matt Goodson, managing director at Salt Funds Management, said Australia’s reporting season had been mixed so far, but really gets underway on both sides of the Tasman next week. “It’s been reasonably quiet here this week,” he said.

Contact Energy is expected to post a record first-half result on Monday. The shares rose for a third day, up 1.1 per cent at $6.22, the highest close since February 2015. Its volume was lighter than usual at 735,000.

The local market was one of the few to gain yesterday across the Asia-Pacific region after a weaker lead from Wall Street. Utilities were a favourite among investors given their defensive qualities. Auckland International Airport rose 2.3 per cent to $7.54 on a volume of one million shares. Air New Zealand fell 0.7 per cent to $2.78 on a volume of 1.2 million shares.

Ryman Healthcare led the market higher, up 3.9 per cent at $11.02 on lighter than usual volume of 459,000.

Infrastructure investor Infratil gained 2.1 per cent at $3.91, the highest close since the company undertook a two-for-one share split in 2007.

Gentrack rose 1.1 per cent to $5.11 on small volumes after signing a new contract with a UK water retailer.

Spark New Zealand was the most traded stock, with 3.6 million shares changing hands. The shares rose 0.5 per cent to $4.05. Precinct Properties New Zealand fell 0.3 per cent to $1.515 on a volume of 1.5 million shares, twice its average volume. Sky Network Television increased 0.5 per cent to $1.93 on a volume of 1.4 million, compared with a 497,000 90-day average.

Of other companies trading on volumes of more than a million shares, Kiwi Property Group rose 0.7 per cent to $1.435, Meridian Energy was unchanged at $3.65 and Fletcher Building was unchanged at $5.04.

Pushpay Holdings fell 2.9 per cent to $3.34 on a volume of 391,000, in line with its 90-day average. Tourism Holdings fell 2.3 per cent to $4.69 on lighter than average volumes. NZX was down 2 per cent at 97c on volume of 200,000.