Market commentaries
WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares inched higher yesterday but trading was mixed as investors prepare for the local earnings season and hope for progress in the ongoing trade dispute between China and the United States.
The S&P/NZX 50 index rose 1.64 points to 9110.55. Within the index, 29 stocks rose, six were unchanged and 15 fell. Turnover was $120.8 million.
US markets finished slightly higher, aided by good results from semiconductor makers and airlines.
Greg Smith, head of research at Fat Prophets, said the local market had started the year well. While the outlook remained mixed, given the ongoing USChina trade issue and the partial government shutdown in the US, investors had nevertheless been adding a mix of both defensive stocks and some growth stocks to their portfolios.
US company earnings had generally been good, which added to suspicions October’s selloff was overdone, he said.
Spark New Zealand was again among the heaviesttraded stocks. It was down 0.2% at $4.12, with almost 7.9 million shares traded.
Other stocks to beat the one million turnover mark included Paysauce, with 2.6 million shares traded, NZ Property Fund, Chorus, Pushpay and Z Energy.
Sky Network TV, which is introducing hybrid internetbased services to complement its satellite TV business, rose1.1% to $1.91.
Chorus rose 0.4% to $4.845. Pushpay rose 1.7% to $3.69 and Z Energy rose 0.2% to $6.09.
AMP fell 6.4% to $2.48 after warning investors profit for 2018 may fall to A$30 million, from $A848 million in 2017, due to losses at the businesses it is selling to Resolution Life and extra capital it is having to carry against those assets until the transaction is completed.
Oceania Healthcare fell 2.8% to $1.06. Agedcare operating earnings for the halfyear through November fell 14% from a year earlier due to higher wage costs. Companywide underlying operating earnings were up 7.5%.
Mr Smith said the retirement sector would have to work a bit harder, given it was unlikely to enjoy any further ‘‘tailwinds’’ from the rising property market it had enjoyed for several years. Investors would focus more on underlying earnings.
Ryman Healthcare fell 1% to $11 and Summerset Group was unchanged at $6.44. Kiwi Property rose 1.5% to $1.40 and Precinct Properties rose 0.3% to $1.485.
Among smaller cap companies, PaySauce was unchanged at 1.8c having risen 29% on Thursday. On Wednesday, the company said its recurring revenue in the December quarter more than doubled from the same quarter of 2017. PaySauce listed on NZX on December 21 via a backdoor listing through the shell of Energy Mad.
IkeGPS ended down 6.2% at 61c. The utilities measurement specialist has fallen almost 18% after saying on Thursday it might not break even at the operating level in the March quarter due to a delay closing a large contract for its Ike Analyze service.
A The Australian sharemarket powered into the close yesterday on a 10week high thanks to strong performances by the energy and financial sectors and despite AMP’s woes.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 39.9 points, or 0.68%, to 5905.6 by late afternoon, while the broader All Ordinaries was up 40.6 points, or 0.68%, higher at 5971.0
AMP shares were 10.2% lower at one point — just 4c above its alltime low of $2.24.
But the wealth manager was an outlier in an otherwise strong financial sector, with the big four banks all in the black.
ANZ was the strongest of the quartet, rising 1.04% to $26.19, while Westpac and NAB showed gains of 0.62 and 0.65% respectively. Shares in gas giant Santos rose 1.62c to $6.29 at the close, while Origin Energy was up 0.42% to $7.24, and Beach Energy climbed 2.41% to $1.70.
Healthcare was the only sector to suffer losses, dragged lower by ResMed’s 9.2% fall after the duallisted sleep device manufacturer’s secondquarter result fell short of market expectations.
ResMed finished the day down 12.4% to $14.47, while Ansell Ltd and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare fell down 0.76% and 1.53% respectively.
Consumer discretionaries were another strong market leader, led by supermarket Coles up 2.41% to $12.75.
Rival Woolworths finished flat at $30.52 while retail giant Wesfarmers lifted 0.83% to $32.85.
Mining shares have been making substantial gains in the market with strong quarterly results reports benefiting from higher mineral prices.
Iluka Resources shone brightly, finishing up 9.05% to $8.19 after announcing 2018 revenue was up about 22%.
Rio Tinto rose 1.09% to $80.47, while Fortescue Metals and giant BHP were also up.
Gold miners Northern Star and Orora each sustained losses, down 1.95% to $8.05, and 2.44% to $3.20 respectively.
The Aussie dollar fell, buying 70.99 USc from 71.05 USc on Thursday. — BusinessDesk/AAP