Shares mixed as Pushpay leads market higher

New Zealand shares were mixed as weaker than expected earnings from global tech giants spooked investors already wary of over-valued equity markets.

The S&P/NZX50 index edged up 0.17 of a point, or 0.002 per cent, to 8568.40, snapping a five-day decline. Within the index, 21 stocks gained, 20 fell and nine were unchanged. Turnover was $121.7 million.

The local bourse teetered between positive and negative territory after results from Amazon and Google missed expectations, casting a pall across Asian equity markets. Matt Goodson, managing director at Salt Funds Management, said intraday volatility was very high through the session.

Global financial markets have been contending with a return of heightened volatility in recent months as investors fret over the pace of global growth and weigh up the prospect of higher interest rates.

That’s seen the NZX50 fall from a record in September, although it’s yet to cross the 10 per cent threshold indicating a technical correction. The local bourse is the only major stock index in Asia-Pacific that’s still in positive territory for the year to date, up 2 per cent. Goodson said a number of primarily larger companies had become very expensive during that run.

“Really, we’re seeing something of an unwind of the greatest excesses of it over the past three or four months,” he said.

Spark New Zealand slipped 0.1 per cent to $3.83 on 4.7 million shares traded, well ahead of its 2.7 million 90-day average. Kathmandu rose 0.4 per cent to $2.63 on 14 times its average volume with 2.8 million shares traded. Among other stocks with more than 1 million shares traded, Argosy Property was unchanged at $1.09, SkyCity Entertainment Group fell 1.9 per cent to $3.70, Ryman Healthcare was unchanged at $11.77, Air New Zealand rose 1.5 per cent to $2.655, a2 Milk Co fell 0.5 per cent to $9.86, Z Energy gained 1.2 per cent to $5.92 and Mercury NZ increased 1.4 per cent to $3.375. Pushpay led the market higher, up 5.2 per cent to $3.66. Fletcher Building increased 1.9 per cent to $5.82, rising from a six-month low.

Heartland Bank gained 1.3 per cent to $1.54. Trading in the stock is now halted until November 1 when it restructures into Heartland Group. Tourism Holdings fell 3 per cent to $4.90 on slightly higher than average volume; Synlait Milk dropped 2.9 per cent to $8.41 on lighter volumes than usual.

Outside the benchmark index, TIL Logistics gained 1.3 per cent to $1.60 after predicting earnings growth on an expanding economy and recent acquisitions. Mainfreight, whose transport and logistics operations span the globe, increased 0.3 per cent to $28.07.