Plenty of volume but less positive sentiment

The New Zealand sharemarket lacked direction and had a weak finish to the week — though the energy stocks tried their best to pump it up.

The S&P/NZX50 Index began its slide mid-afternoon and closed down 78.47 points or 0.67 per cent to 11,580.46. The index fell 1.5 per cent for the week and is down more than 11 per cent so far this year.

There were 49 gainers and 84 decliners over the whole market on volume of 96.1 million share transactions worth $449.48m. The volume was boosted by the quarterly rebalancing of the NZX and FTSE Russell indices in an extended trading session.

Infratil, down 7.5c to $9.15, had its presence in the FTSE index upgraded and 10.62m shares worth $97.15m changed hands. Spark, moving into the S&P/ASX200 Index, declined 3c to $5.10 on trade worth $42.45m.

Greg Smith, head of retail with Devon Funds Management, said strong economic data in United States has not taken away the prospect of another interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve next week.

“We also had a stronger than expected GDP figure and the economies are not deteriorating,” he said. “It’s been a volatile week with evidence that inflation is still high.”

In New Zealand, said ANZ Research, the Reserve Bank needs to see slower growth. “It will get it but we think it’ll take a higher OCR to the do the job.”

The energy sector was solid. Contact increased 3c to $7.85; Mercury improved 2c to $6.03; Genesis gained 3.5c to $3.02; Vector added 3c to $4.88; and Meridian was up 7c to $5.12.

In its latest operating report, Meridian told the market that by the middle of this month national hydro storage increased from 144 per cent to 162 per cent of the historical average, and retail sales volumes were 5.8 per cent higher than in August last year.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare went back under $20, falling 60c or 2.99 per cent to $19.45 on trade worth $41.44m.

Mainfreight shed $2.25 or 3.01 per cent to $72.50; milk company a2 Milk was down 12c or 1.89 per cent to $6.24; Ebos Group declined 72c or 1.86 per cent to $38.05; and fast food operator Restaurant Brands plunged 52c or 5.96 per cent to $8.20.

Air New Zealand, up 2.5c or 3.37 per cent to 69.5c, dismissed Australian media speculation about a potential merger transaction. Air NZ told the market it has not been approached and is not in discussions with any parties.

Stride Property rose 5c or 2.82 per cent to $1.82; Precinct Properties gained 3c or

2.21 per cent to $1.39; and Property for Industry was up 2.5c to $2.58.