Market commentaries
WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares rose yesterday, joining a global rally, with A2 Milk up after raising its fullyear revenue guidance, Fletcher Building and Tegel Group climbing from their recent lows and Spark rising on demand for its attractive yield.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index gained 112.2 points, or 1.6%, to 7335.14. Within the index, 33 stocks gained, 14 fell and three were unchanged. Turnover was $272 million, including $122 million in Spark shares.
Shares rose on Wall Street and key equity benchmarks rose across Asia yesterday as investors responded to what is seen as a marketfriendly presidential election outcome in France and US President Donald Trump’s imminent announcement on corporate tax cuts.
‘‘There’s a riskon feel to it,’’ said Greg Smith, head of research at Fat Prophets in Auckland.
A2 rose 7.8% to a record $3.45 after the milk marketer forecast revenue of $525 million in the year ending June 30, up from $352.8 million a year earlier. A2 generated sales of $388 million in the nine months ended March 31 as thirdquarter sales of its infant formula, popular in China where rules have been tightened for internet sales, exceeded expectations.
Fletcher gained 3.8% to $8.31, having sunk to a 12month low last week. Tegel, whose shares have been punished in the face of a glut of product and rivalry from Australia’s Ingham’s, gained 2.6% to $1.17.
‘‘In New Zealand, we’ve seen some of the laggards rising on a bit of bargain hunting, rightly or wrongly,’’ Mr Smith said.
Spark rose 1.8% to $3.675. Mr Smith said it might be a beneficiary of Australian investors deeming that market as becoming overcrowded with telcos and being drawn to its yield of more than 6%. It has also benefited from the regulator nixing Sky Network Television’s proposed tieup with Vodafone New Zealand.
Ebos Group rose 4.7% to $18.90. Auckland International Airport rose 2.4% to $6.84 after figures showed net inbound migration remained at record levels and shortterm visitor arrivals chalked up another annual record.
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group gained 2.6% to $35.12 and Westpac Banking Corp rose 1.9% to $37.77. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose 2.3% to $9.82, Summerset Group gained 2% to $5.29 and Xero rose 1.8% to $20.85.
The Australian sharemarket closed higher for a fourth straight session, while the Australian dollar has fallen due to weakerthanexpected inflation numbers.
The S&P/ASX200 index gained 0.7% as investors caught up with recent gains on Wall Street.
The Australian dollar dropped more than a third of a US cent immediately after the release of Marchquarter inflation numbers at 11.30 AEST that showed a quarterly rate of 0.5%, missing economists’ expectations of 0.6%.
Core inflation was even weaker at an annual rate of 1.9%, leaving room for another rate cut by the central bank, economists said.
The local currency was at US75.13c at 4.30pm. It was already under pressure over concerns about US President Donald Trump’s protectionism, after he applied tariffs to Canadian lumber.
CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said investors were catching up after Tuesday’s public holiday, following strong gains on Wall Street.
‘‘Clearly, we’re responding to a couple factors. No doubt, US company earnings have surprised on the upside over the last couple of sessions, and that’s been one of the boosts today,’’ he said. ‘‘But also, while we were on holiday, we did see rallies around the globe, so we’re playing a bit of catchup.’’
The financial sector was a strong performer, including a gain of 1.3% for ANZ. Macquarie Group added 2.6% and QBE Insurance was 2.1% higher.
BHP Billiton added 0.6% after cutting its fullyear copper production guidance and outlining plans to sell some of its US shale acreage.
Rio Tinto advanced 1.1% and Fortescue Metals strengthened by 1.3%.
A2 Milk surged 7.7% and rival infant formula maker Bellamy’s was up 5.2%.
The June SPI200 futures contract was up 24 points, or 0.41%, at 5898 points. National turnover was 2.04 billion securities traded worth $5.43 billion.