Market commentaries
WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares snapped a sixday winning streak as investors pause for breath with the benchmark index near a record and outperforming all bar China’s CSI 300 Index across Asia so far this year. A2 Milk led the market lower.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index decreased 16.06 points, or 0.1%, to 11,202.93. Within the index, 20 stocks fell, 25 rose, and five were unchanged. Turnover was $107.7 million.
New Zealand’s benchmark is still up about 27% so far this year, lagging China’s CSI 300’s 32% gain.
‘‘We’re in a bit of a lull just after earnings season, but the NZX50’s gone through 11,000 — it’s only natural to expect it to pause for breath at some point,’’ Fat Prophets head of research Greg Smith said.
Mr Smith said the lingering trade dispute between the United States and China continued to cause concern for investors. The prospect of negotiations was welcomed by investors, but Mr Smith noted that may be a false dawn, given White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the conflict could take years to resolve.
Stocks with global exposure — both importers and exporters — were among those to decline.
A2 led the market lower, down 3.3% at $14.89 on a volume of 470,000 shares, less than its 90day average of 784,000. Synlait Milk, which supplies a2 and is reporting earnings on Thursday, decreased 0.5% to $9.40.
Mainfreight fell 2% to $40.52, Scales Corp was down 1% at $5, and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare slipped 0.7% to $17.51.
Sky Network Television decreased 1.8% to $1.11 on a volume of 2.8 million shares, the biggest volume for the day, and more than three times its 756,000 average.
New Zealand’s market has been a favourite among investors because of the relatively high dividend yields on offer at a time when low international interest rates boost the allure of reliable income from utility and property stocks.
Those yield plays were mixed yesterday. Genesis Energy fell 0.7% to $3.635 on a volume of 1.6 million shares, Kiwi Property was down 0.6% at $1.68, Contact Energy fell 0.6% to $8.93, and Mercury NZ decreased 0.4% to $4.23 on a volume of 1.5 million shares.
Trustpower posted the day’s biggest gain, up 3.5% at $8.24 on a volume of 23,000 shares, less than a third of its 78,000 average. Infratil increased 2.3% to $4.98 on a volume of 1.2 million shares, Meridian Energy was up 1.6% at $5.66 on a volume of 1.1 million and Goodman Property Trust rose 1.3% to $2.24 on a volume of 2.5 million units.
Of other stocks trading on volumes of more than a million shares, Spark New Zealand rose 1.3% to $4.705 and Fletcher Building rose 2.3% to $4.82. NZX was down 0.8% at $1.28.
Outside the benchmark index, Cannasouth jumped 29% to 75c on a volume of 2.3 million shares, its busiest day since it listed in June. The stock closed above its initial public offering price of 50c for the first time last week and has almost doubled in value since August 27.
The Australian sharemarket started the trading week flat, as concerns about global growth balanced easing USChina trade tensions.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed yesterday up 0.7 points to 6648, while the broader All Ordinaries was up 7.4 points, or 0.11%, to 6760.1 points. — BusinessDesk/AAP