Subdued ending to positive week for market

The New Zealand sharemarket had another quiet day, ignoring further gains on Wall Street, but it completed the week with a healthy rise of more than 1 per cent.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell sharply at the opening but had a late rise for the second day running to close at 11,875.03 – down 14.6 points or 0.12 per cent after reaching an intraday low of 11,816.91.

The NZX index gained nearly 1.5 per cent this week and has risen 0.8 per cent so far this year.

The ASX exchange across the Tasman was closed for the Australia Day holiday and volumes plunged to 19.95 million share transactions worth $61.66m on the New Zealand market as a result. There were 71 gainers and 60 decliners on the main board.

Jeremy Sullivan, investment advisor with Hamilton Hindin Greene, said: “We had no Aussie investors involved and our market was thinly traded. People have now digested the latest New Zealand inflation data and there was only a small reaction.

“The market is now eagerly awaiting the company reporting season — that’s the next cab off the rank.”

Further positive economic data in the United States fuelled hopes that the Federal Reserve will soon cut interest rates.

The US gross domestic product grew 3.3 per cent in the fourth quarter, well ahead of the market expectation of 2 per cent, and underscoring continued economic resiliency.

The S&P 500 climbed to new heights after increasing 0.53 per cent to 4894.16 points; Nasdaq Composite, which has also finished higher for six successive trading days, gained 0.18 per cent to 15,510.5; and Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.64 per cent to 38,049.13, a new all-time high.

The local market was dragged down by Ebos Group, falling 85c or 2.3 per cent to $36.15; and Meridian Energy declining 15c or 2.61 per cent to $5.60. Summerset Group gave up some of its recent gains, declining 20c or 1.82 per cent to $10.80.

Chorus declined 15c or 1.91 per cent to $7.70; Manawa Energy shed 9c or 2.05 per cent to $4.30; Third Age Health fell 7c or 4.93 per cent to $1.35; and T&G Global was down 4c or 2.05 per cent to $1.91.

Chatham Rock Phosphate gave back 1.2c or 6.98 per cent to 16c; NZX declined 3c or 2.78 per cent to $1.05; and Carbon Fund decreased 4c or 2.17 per cent to $1.80.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare added 25c to $23.95; Vulcan Steel increased 23c to $8.10; a2 Milk gained 5c to $5; Sanford was up 14c or 3.57 per cent to $4.06; Eroad improved 2c or 2.22 per cent to 92c; and Burger Fuel rose 2c or 7.14 per cent to 30c.