NZ stocks settle after early fall as Nasdaq hits record high

The New Zealand sharemarket settled back into steady trading following the large volumes and sharp price movements the day before — which included index changes and the sale of a near 15 per cent shareholding in Precinct Properties.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell at the opening despite the Nasdaq Composite

reaching a record close in the US. The NZX index was helped by a late rise and finished up 2.9 points or 0.02 per cent to 11,744.39 after reaching an intraday low of 11,683.4.

The index ended a hectic week ahead by 0.2 per cent and is down by the same amount for the year.

There were 70 gainers and 65 decliners on the main board with 36.16 million shares worth $115.86 million changing hands, compared with $598.26m worth the day before.

The Nasdaq Composite, driven by the Magnificent Seven tech stocks, increased 0.9 per cent to an all-time high of 16,091.92 points, beating the previous record of 16,057.44 set in November 2021.

The S&P 500 gained 0.52 per cent to a new peak of 5096.27 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.12 per cent to 38,996.39.

The increases marked the fourth straight positive month for Wall Street, and the Nasdaq rose 6.12 per cent in February; S&P 500 was up 5.17 per cent; and Dow Jones gained 2.22 per cent.

Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said the local market normalised after the heavy trading: “The stand-outs were Meridian and Mercury reacting to an index change.”

Meridian increased its weighting in the MSCI Large Cap index and the day after was down 8c to $5.90. Mercury rose 19c or 2.84 per cent to $6.87.

The Warehouse, down 3c or 2.26 per cent to $1.30, and Oceania Healthcare, unchanged at 59c, fell out of the MSCI Small Cap Index because trading in their shares was too illiquid.

Precinct Properties was up 1.5c to $1.18 after its big day. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s Haumi Co sold its 14.9 per cent stake, 237m shares at $1.10 a share (totalling more than $261m), and Accident Compensation Corp disclosed it had increased its shareholding in Precinct to 9.2 per cent, from 7.9 per cent.

Goodson said most of the New Zealand investment funds would have picked up some shares and Precinct will increase its weighting in the NZX index now that 100 per cent of its shares are available for trading.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gained 22c to $24.72; Tourism Holdings increased 7c or 2.12 per cent to $3.37; and Fletcher Building was up 9c or 2.2 per cent to $4.19.

Retirement village operator Summerset Group was down 5c to $11 after completing the $125m six-year bond offer carrying a 6.43 per cent interest rate. The bonds will be issued on March 8. Ryman Healthcare declined 11c to $4.53.