by BusinessDesk
The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 5.19 points, or 0.04 percent, to 11,747.28. Within the index, 28 stocks rose, 20 fell and two were unchanged. Turnover was $257.9 million.
Today’s additional 5 points brings the index’s total gain for the third quarter to 2 percent, rounding out a fairly flat three months with trading stalled in a range between 11,500 and 12,000. The index is now up 1.7 percent year-to-date.
Institutional investors pulled the index back from a half a percent decline during the pre-close session as they repositioned their portfolios for the final quarter of the year.
“It is the last day of the quarter today, so there is always a bit of rejigging of portfolios with investors squaring up positions,” said Mark Lister, head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners.
Property stocks with exposure to the retail sector were the key gainers on the day, as investors saw potential for economic recovery underpinned by low interest rates.
Investore Property rose 2.3 percent to $2.21, Argosy Property climbed 2.3 percent to $1.36 and Kiwi Property Group gained 1.9 percent at $1.06.
“Argosy and Kiwi are both up reasonably strongly today and both have retail exposure, so maybe investors are looking ahead and thinking at some point people will return to malls,” Lister said.
Oceania Healthcare, a retirement village operator with exposure to the residential property market, rose 1.8 percent to $1.14. The company has been popular with investors due to the strong housing market and rival Metlifecare set to leave the exchange.
“People are looking for opportunities within the same sector to reinvest and Oceania stands out as it is not as highly priced as some of the others,” Lister said.
Other stocks making gains today included: Meridian Energy, up 1.8 percent to $4.95, Pushpay Holdings, which gained 1.7 percent to $8.85, and Spark New Zealand, up 1.5 percent to $4.70.
SkyCity Entertainment Group led the market higher, rising 3.1 percent to $2.98.
These gains offset a third day of decline for A2 Milk Company, which posted the day’s biggest fall after dropping 3.2 percent to $15.34. The stock is still outperforming the index but has fallen almost 30 percent from its record in August.
“That is the risk with high-flying companies, when they have performed as well as they have the bar is set so high that any stumble and they get pounded,” said Lister
The kiwi dollar began to recover some strength throughout the day as the US currency weakened. It was trading at 65.87 US cents at 5pm in Wellington, up from 65.66 cents yesterday.
The trade-weighted index was at 71.26 at 5pm, from 71.13 yesterday. The kiwi traded at 92.57 Australian cents from 92.69 cents, 69.55 yen from 69.25 yen, 56.14 euro cents from 56.24 euro cents, 51.30 British pence from 51.06 pence, and 4.4867 Chinese yuan from 4.4803 yuan.
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