Market rises but Air NZ hits three-month low

New Zealand shares edged higher in relatively quiet trading as investors wait for company earnings season to kick off later this month.Air New Zealand dropped to a threemonth low.

The S&P/NZX 50 increased 13.83 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 8999.17. Within the index, 26 stocks gained, 17 fell, and seven were unchanged. Turnover was $131.5 million.

“Markets in New Zealand and Australia were pretty much flat on the day, with the odd exception, very light volumes and very light news flow,” said Matt Goodson, managing director at Salt Funds Management.

New Zealand’s earnings season really begins the following week, with Contact Energy the first major company to report. It was unchanged at $6.04 yesterday on 3.9 million shares, more than three times its 90-day average.

Meridian shares rose 2.3 per cent to $3.60 on volume of one million shares and Skellerup gained 0.5 per cent to $2.03 on

277,000 shares.

Among companies FNZC analysts see at risk of missing expectations, Chorus rose

0.6 per cent to $4.93 on a volume of 1.2 million, Comvita decreased 0.2 per cent to $4.56, Fletcher Building fell 0.8 per cent to $4.96, Michael Hill International was unchanged at 60c, NZX rose 2 per cent to $1.02,

Sky Network Television was up 2.1 per cent at $1.93, and Vista Group International increased 0.3 per cent to $4.

Air New Zealand posted the biggest decline for the day, falling 4.6 per cent to close at a three-month low of $2.68 on volume of 1.9 million.

Retailer Kathmandu Holdings rose 2.5 per cent to $2.45 on half its average volume. Outside the benchmark index, rival retailers

Briscoe Group fell 0.6 per cent to $3.22 and

Warehouse Group rose 0.5 per cent to $2.06. Vital Healthcare Property Trust fell 2.4 per cent to $2.05 on a volume of 696,000, more than twice its 90-day average. Spark New Zealand was the most traded stock on a volume of almost 4 million. It fell 0.7 per cent to $4.025. Kiwi Property Group rose 0.4 per cent to $1.425 on a volume of 2.8 million, while Mercury NZ rose 0.6 per cent to $3.55. Precinct Properties New Zealand increased 0.3 per cent to $1.50 on a volume of 1.3 million.

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group was down 1.4 per cent at $26.14 and

Westpac Banking Group fell 0.9 per cent to $25.77, while local lender Heartland Group decreased 0.7 per cent to $1.37.