Market commentary

AUCKLAND: New Zealand shares were mixed in light trading as investors weighed up the impact of index rebalancing at the end of this week. Growth stocks Pushpay Holdings and a2 Milk Co gained, while Sky Network Television fell.

The S&P/NZX 50 index edged up 0.77 of a point, or 0.01%, to 9271.53. Within the index, 20 stocks gained, 23 fell and seven were unchanged. Turnover was $89.4 million.

Several Australian stock indices tracked by passive investment funds will rebalance at the end of the week. The new lineups will take effect from next month, including Sky TV’s exit from the S&P/ASX 300 index. Sky TV fell 2.8% to $2.06, just shy of the $2.05 low it hit on September 6.

David Price, a broker at Forsyth Barr, said trading had been particularly quiet for a number of days and that the index rebalancing will attract most focus this week.

‘‘There’ll be quite a bit going on this Friday with some large index changes. That’ll be the highlight of the week.’’

Pushpay rose 2.7% to $4.15, extending last week’s gain on a broker upgrade. a2 rose 2.5% to $12.29 after a Forsyth Barr research note said new Chinese ecommerce rules should play to the milk marketer’s strengths. Synlait Milk fell 1.6% to $12.95 ahead of its annual result on Thursday.

Chorus gained 2.1% to $4.89 and Ebos Group rose 2.1% to $22.44.

Retirement stocks largely fell. Price said the decline was too small to attribute to the recently announced Australian Royal Commission into aged care, which saw the likes of ASXlisted Estia Health sink 17%. Summerset Group fell 2.6% to $7.60, Metlifecare declined 1.9% to $6.26 and Ryman Healthcare decreased 1.1% to $13.55.

Property For Industry slipped 2.5% to $1.755 after opening a sevenyear bond offer. The real estate investor wants to raise $100 million which it will use to repay bank debt and diversify its funding at a lower cost.

Infratil declined 1.1% to $3.47 and Mercury NZ was unchanged at $3.28. Tilt Renewable’s independent adviser valued the wind and solar generation business at a premium to the duo’s $2.30 a share offer. Tilt rose 4.8% to $2.41.

Kathmandu was unchanged at $3.18 ahead of its annual result today. The retailer has said net profit should rise to between $48 million and $52 million from $38 million in 2017.

A Australian shares have closed higher, lifted by the banks despite heavy losses to aged care stocks in reaction to the pending royal commission.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 19.7 points, or 0.32%, at 6185.0 points yesterday, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 17.6 points, or 0.28%, higher at 6293.9 points.

CommSec market analyst Tom Piotrowski said until the terms of reference for the inquiry weare announced, the damage would be limited to shares of aged care providers.

‘‘And whether or not it’s going to be extended more broadly to organisations that provide services to that retired cohort,’’ he said. Estia Health Ltd was the hardest hit, plummeting 18.6% to $2.40. Estia was among the companies supporting Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s announcement of a commission into the sector and was looking forward to engaging in the consultation on the terms of reference for the inquiry.

Audits at some aged care facilities have revealed a dramatic increase in noncompliance and abuses in the aged care sector.