NZ shares up, marking 1.8% gain in April
New Zealand shares edged higher in the final day of April trading, capping a 1.8 per cent gain for the month that saw the benchmark index cross the 10,000 level for the first time.
The S&P/NZX50 Index increased 1.06 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 10,013.83. Within the index, 23 stocks rose, 22 fell, and five were unchanged. Turnover was $195.2 million, of which Trade Me Group accounted for $42.4m.
Trading was subdued with a lot of investors in Sydney for the Macquarie Australia Conference.
April was another month of solid gains for the benchmark index, taking its year-to-date increase to 13.7 per cent, ahead of the reporting period for companies with March and September balance dates.
Three of the four major Australian banks will report first-half earnings during the coming week, with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group first up today. ANZ’s local subsidiary is New Zealand’s biggest bank, and is most at risk from the Reserve Bank’s proposals to hike lenders’ capital requirements. The
dual-listed shares decreased 0.2 per cent to $28.74 yesterday.
Z Energy, which reports tomorrow, was up 0.5 per cent at $6.33. Ebos Group shares were halted at $21.42 after the pharmaceuticals and animal care products maker announced an underwritten $150m placement to institutional investors.
Trade Me slipped 0.2 per cent to $6.43, with 6.6 million shares traded, the most for the day. Its shares will be suspended tomorrow before it formally delists next week after the successful $6.45 per share takeover.
Spark New Zealand rose 0.8 per cent to $3.67 on a volume of 4.6 million shares, while Kiwi Property Group was up 0.3 per cent at $1.54 on a volume of 3.1 million shares.
Fletcher Building fell 2.1 per cent to $5.16 on a volume of 2.4 million shares, about twice its 90-day average. Of other companies trading on volumes of more than a million shares, Meridian Energy fell 0.5 per cent to $4.06, Auckland International Airport decreased 0.1 per cent to $7.97, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare increased 0.1 per cent to $15.81, and a2 Milk Co was unchanged at $16.77.
Investore Property led the market higher, up 2.5 per cent at $1.64 on a volume of 93,000 shares. Its manager, Stride Property, rose 0.5 per cent to $2.03.
Metlifecare rose 2.3 per cent to $4.95 and Kathmandu Holdings was up 2.2 per cent at $2.35.
Summerset Group fell 0.9 per cent to $5.61 on a volume of 469,000 shares. The retirement village operator and developer told shareholders it has scaled back its development programme for this year in the face of slowing housing and construction markets. Tourism Holdings fell 3.4 per cent to $4.04 on a volume of 172,000 shares, while Air New Zealand declined 2.4 per cent to $2.685 on a volume of 820,000, down on its 1.1 million average.
Outside the benchmark index, NZME rose 3.8 per cent to 55 cents on a volume of 415,00 shares, almost four times its three-month average. The media company yesterday launched a subscription for premium content on its NZ Herald website.