Market commentary
WELLINGTON: Contact and Meridian Energy finished their golden runup to being revalued on a global index, dragging the New Zealand sharemarket down another near0.5% on heavy trading.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index lost 53.57 points or 0.43% to 12,433.16 after falling 0.45% the day before. But the index was up 1.24% for the week. There were 74 gainers and 64 decliners over the whole market, with 90.6 million shares worth $384.11 million changing hands.
Contact fell 36c or 4.44% to $7.74 on the big trading of 14.5 million shares worth $112.5 million, and Meridian declined 25c or 4.24% to $5.65 on 23 million shares worth $130 million. Mercury was also down 10c to $5.40.
Harbour Asset Management portfolio manager Shane Solly said Meridian and Contact would overnight have ‘‘a weighting uplift’’ on the iShares Global Clean Energy Exchange Traded Fund.
‘‘This increases their liquidity and investors have been purchasing in advance of the index change.’’
American global investment manager BlackRock Inc, for instance, increased its stake in
Contact to 7.44%, from 6.41%.
‘‘Both stocks have had strong runs lately – Contact moved from $6.20 and Meridian from $4.65 in late September,’’ Mr Solly said.
‘‘They have gone from the outhouse to the penthouse in a short period of time, and they are now giving some back with profittaking.’’
Mainfreight, bubbling with increased business activity, continued its glorious run, climbing $1.85 or 3.55% to another new peak of $53.90. Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was up 34c to $35.20 but a2 Milk slipped 9c to $15.66.
Retirement village operator Oceania Healthcare gained another 3c or 2.16% to $1.42, having increased a third in price over the past three weeks. Competitor Summerset Group Holdings was up 2c to $10.32 and Arvida gained 3c to $1.82.
Ebos Group was down 7c to $26.80, Auckland International Airport fell 24.5c or 3.29% to $7.20, and Hallenstein Glasson decreased 18c or 2.94% to $5.94.
Scott Technology rose 5c or 2.66% to $1.93, Serko was up 16c or 3.17% to $5.20, and The Warehouse climbed 15c or 6.91% to $2.32, with three brokers putting out positive research notes.
‘‘The sentiment is that The Warehouse is doing a better job and is engaging online,’’ Mr Solly said.
SkyCity Entertainment sent out mixed signals at its annual meeting and its share price fell 5c to $3.11. SkyCity told its shareholders the Hamilton, Queenstown and Adelaide casinos were trading ahead of expectations. Online casino trading was positive but the outlook remained unpredictable for the 2021 financial year as ‘‘we adjust to new social and economic settings’’. SkyCity is providing a trading update in midNovember. — The New Zealand Herald