Market commentaries
WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares joined a rally across Asia as easing trade tensions between the US and China helped buoy investor sentiment. Exporter Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was among firms that gained.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index increased 39.86 points, or 0.4%, to 10,801.55. Within the index, 23 stocks rose, 15 fell and 12 were unchanged. Turnover was $79.2 million.
Stocks across Asia were higher, following the upbeat tone from Wall Street on Friday, as investors remained optimistic that a trade deal between US and China can be reached.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 1.3% in afternoon trading, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.2% and South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index advanced 1.1%.
Peter McIntyre, an investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners, said the easing trade tensions and strongerthanexpected US jobs data had helped push Wall Street higher.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which derives half its revenue in the US, was up 2.1% at $19.54. Vista Group International rose 1.9% to $3.85 with 1.6 million shares traded. Scales Corp was up 1.7% at $5.30.
Fletcher Building led the benchmark index higher, up 2.6% to $4.70 with 707,000 shares traded.
The electricity companies recovered some of their recent losses. Meridian Energy increased 1.6% to $4.59 on a volume of 1.3 million shares, and Contact Energy was up 0.3% at $7.23 with 1.3 million shares traded.
Duallisted bank stocks were weaker as Westpac Banking Corp reported a 15% slide in annual profit and said it planned to raise $A2.5 billion to bolster its balance sheet as regulators demand higher capital. Its New Zealand unit was one of the stronger performers, with a 1% drop in core earnings. The shares were halted at $30 to allow for the capitalraising.
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, which reported flat earnings last week, declined 1.1% to $28 and AMP fell 1.5% to $1.97.
Kiwi Property Group was the most traded stock on a volume of 2.6 million and was unchanged at $1.59.
Auckland International Airport posted the day’s biggest fall, down 1.8% at $9.28, with 901,000 shares changing hands.
Outside the benchmark index, AFT Pharmaceuticals rose 0.3% to $3.02 after it said new accounting standards meant it would book a oneoff $9.8 million gain on acquiring full control of the Pascomer topical treatment partnership.
Evolve Education advanced 1.3% to 16.2c after it agreed to buy five childcare centres in Queensland and Victoria for $A7.7 million plus potential earnouts.
A The Australian sharemarket closed higher for the ninth time in 11 days, a big day for the mining sector outweighing a slide in major bank stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed up 17.8 points, or 0.27%, to 6686.9, while the All Ordinaries finished up 20.7 points, or 0.31%, to 6799.8.
IThe banking sector dragged on the market following the disappointing results from Westpac.
On the flip side, the mining sector had its best day in 10 months with a 2.08% rise. BHP climbed 2.2% to $36.48, Rio Tinto 3.5% to $93.69, Fortescue Metals 4.2% to $9.38 and South32 3.2% to $2.61.
Goldminers were also higher, Northern Star up 1.5% and Resolute up 2.9%, while lithium miners continued their strong run as protests and instability rocked Chile, a major lithium supplier. — BusinessDesk/AAP