Market commentary
WELLINGTON: The New Zealand sharemarket woke up late in the day and gained nearly half a per cent, but it closed the week lagging offshore bourses.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index drifted for most of the day, reaching a low of 12,960.44. But in the last hour before the Waitangi long weekend, trading increased considerably and the index turned around, closing 61.73 points or 0.48% ahead at 13,053.87.
Volume reached 65.3 million share transactions worth $169.16 million, and there were 101 gainers and just 42 decliners over the whole market.
The index fell nearly 1.3% this week, while the S&P/ASX 200 Index across the Tasman climbed 3.54%. At 5.45pm (NZ time) it was up 1.12% to 6841 points.
In the United States overnight, the technologyheavy Nasdaq Composite hit a record high of 13,777.74 with a 1.23% rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, up 1.08% to 31,055.86, and the S&P 500 Index, up 1.09% to a nearhigh of 3871.74, also rallied.
Shane Solly, Harbour Asset Management portfolio manager, said ‘‘our market is more defensive than others overseas with an abundance of utilities rather than growth stocks’’.
‘‘We had a day where the cyclical stocks such as Mainfreight, Fletcher Building and even Steel & Tube and the duallisted banks very much outperformed others.’’
Mainfreight climbed $1.89 to $67.30, Fletcher Building was up 9c to $6.57 and Steel & Tube gained 4c to $1.05. ANZ Banking Group rose 58c to $26.86, and Westpac Banking Corporation increased 63c to $23.58.
Stocks that have been knocked around by Covid19 showed plenty of life. Software travel firm Serko rose 15c to $5.80, seafood company Sanford was up 19c to $4.90 and cinema software firm Vista Group increased 3c to $1.57.
The energy stocks had a positive day. Contact was up 5c to $8.15, Genesis gained 10.5c to $3.885, and Meridian increased 2c to $6.99. Tilt Renewables, now the focus of a possible takeover bid, rose 18c to $6.55.
The heavy hitter holding the market down this time was Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, which fell 44c to $33.50, on trade worth $27.2 million. —