tmmonline.nz  |   landlords.co.nz        About Good Returns  |  Advertise  |  Contact Us  |  Terms & Conditions  |  RSS Feeds

NZ's Financial Adviser News Centre

GR Logo
Last Article Uploaded: Friday, March 29th, 10:40AM

Investments

rss
The Markets

BlackRock dumps $1 billion stake in Meridian and Contact

Trading volumes surged and the market edged higher as passive fund manager BlackRock sold more than $1 billion worth of shares in Contact Energy and Meridian Energy.

Friday, April 16th 2021, 6:52PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 48.2 points, or 0.3%, to 12,684.73. Within the index, 23 stocks rose, 19 fell and eight were unchanged. Turnover was an enormous $1.4b.

Renewable electricity generator, Meridian Energy saw more than 106 million shares change hands, or 4.1% of all shares on issue, pushing its price up 0.8% to $6.05.

Another 81.5 million Contact Energy shares were bought and sold, or 10.4% of all shares, as the stock climbed 2.4% to $7.68.

Matthew Goodson, a director at Salt Funds, said a “tremendous amount of prepositioning” from active investors had helped the price to stay stable.

“One thing that was predictable was that the volumes involved would be huge,” he said.

Today, was the final act in a five-month drama that has sent supposedly stable electricity generators on a rollercoaster share price ride.

It started when investors started piling into a BlackRock clean energy exchange-traded fund after the Democratic party won the US elections late last year.

BlackRock’s ETFs are based on S&P Dow Jones’s Global Clean Energy Index which had Meridian Energy and Contact Energy as two of its largest stocks.

The money being pumped into the ETFs flooded the local market during the summer holidays while many traders were not available to sell into the surge.

BlackRock wound up owning more than 7% of Meridian and more than 14% of Contact.

This caused a liquidity shock which saw the world’s largest fund manager buying shares in a state-owned utility firm for as much as $9.50 in early January, up more than 40% from a month prior.   

S&P realised the clean energy ETFs were inflating the price of these stocks and has redesigned its index to include an additional 51 stocks.

The new stocks were added to the index today, triggering a mass exodus from the two Kiwi electricity generators as passive fund managers were required to sell their oversized stakes.

Both stocks saw their share prices hold up under the selling pressure, as investors had been preparing for the big trade months in advance.

Infratil shares rose 0.2% to $7.01 with 4 million shares traded, as media reports suggested a better offer for its clean energy asset Tilt Renewables had been made.

The renewable energy firm was set to be sold for $2.9b to Mercury NZ and Australian company PowAR, but a Canadian pension fund has lobbed an unexpected $3b offer at the last minute.

The kiwi dollar was trading 71.62 US cents at 5pm in Wellington, up from 71.48 cents yesterday.

The trade-weighted index was at 74.83 at 5pm, from 74.77 yesterday. The kiwi traded at 92.51 Australian cents from 92.60 cents, 77.94 yen from 77.84 yen, 59.85 euro cents from 59.66 cents, 52.02 British pence from 51.87 pence, and 4.6728 Chinese yuan from 4.6722 yuan.

Tags: Market Close

« Investors cash up $100m for renewable energy sell-offNZ shares rise on trans-Tasman bubble »

Special Offers

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Sign In to add your comment

 

print

Printable version  

print

Email to a friend
News Bites
Latest Comments
Subscribe Now

AM Update - Your morning business news update

Previous News
Most Commented On
Mortgage Rates Table

Full Rates Table | Compare Rates

Lender Flt 1yr 2yr 3yr
AIA - Back My Build 6.19 - - -
AIA - Go Home Loans 8.74 7.24 6.79 6.65
ANZ 8.64 7.84 7.39 7.25
ANZ Blueprint to Build 7.39 - - -
ANZ Good Energy - - - 1.00
ANZ Special - 7.24 6.79 6.65
ASB Bank 8.64 7.24 6.79 6.65
ASB Better Homes Top Up - - - 1.00
Avanti Finance 9.15 - - -
Basecorp Finance 9.60 - - -
Bluestone 9.24 - - -
Lender Flt 1yr 2yr 3yr
BNZ - Classic - 7.24 6.79 6.65
BNZ - Green Home Loan top-ups - - - 1.00
BNZ - Mortgage One 8.69 - - -
BNZ - Rapid Repay 8.69 - - -
BNZ - Std, FlyBuys 8.69 7.84 7.39 7.25
BNZ - TotalMoney 8.69 - - -
CFML Loans 9.45 - - -
China Construction Bank - 7.09 6.75 6.49
China Construction Bank Special - - - -
Co-operative Bank - First Home Special - 7.04 - -
Co-operative Bank - Owner Occ 8.40 7.24 6.79 6.65
Lender Flt 1yr 2yr 3yr
Co-operative Bank - Standard 8.40 7.74 7.29 7.15
Credit Union Auckland 7.70 - - -
First Credit Union Special - 7.45 7.35 -
First Credit Union Standard 8.50 7.99 7.85 -
Heartland Bank - Online 7.99 6.69 6.45 6.19
Heartland Bank - Reverse Mortgage - - - -
Heretaunga Building Society 8.90 7.60 7.40 -
HSBC Premier 8.59 - - -
HSBC Premier LVR > 80% - - - -
HSBC Special - - - -
ICBC 7.85 7.05 6.75 6.59
Lender Flt 1yr 2yr 3yr
Kainga Ora 8.64 7.79 7.39 7.25
Kainga Ora - First Home Buyer Special - - - -
Kiwibank 8.50 8.25 7.79 7.55
Kiwibank - Offset 8.50 - - -
Kiwibank Special - 7.25 6.79 6.65
Liberty 8.59 8.69 8.79 8.94
Nelson Building Society 9.00 7.75 7.35 -
Pepper Money Advantage 10.49 - - -
Pepper Money Easy 8.69 - - -
Pepper Money Essential 8.29 - - -
Resimac - LVR < 80% 8.84 ▼8.09 ▼7.59 ▼7.29
Lender Flt 1yr 2yr 3yr
Resimac - LVR < 90% 9.84 ▼9.09 ▼8.59 ▼8.29
Resimac - Specialist Clear (Alt Doc) - - 8.99 -
Resimac - Specialist Clear (Full Doc) - - 9.49 -
SBS Bank 8.74 7.84 7.45 7.25
SBS Bank Special - 7.24 6.85 6.65
SBS Construction lending for FHB - - - -
SBS FirstHome Combo 6.19 6.74 - -
SBS FirstHome Combo - - - -
SBS Unwind reverse equity 9.95 - - -
Select Home Loans 9.24 - - -
TSB Bank 9.44 8.04 7.55 7.45
Lender Flt 1yr 2yr 3yr
TSB Special 8.64 7.24 6.75 6.65
Unity 8.64 6.99 6.79 -
Unity First Home Buyer special - - 6.45 -
Wairarapa Building Society 8.60 6.95 6.85 -
Westpac 8.64 7.89 7.49 7.25
Westpac Choices Everyday 8.74 - - -
Westpac Offset 8.64 - - -
Westpac Special - 7.29 6.89 6.65
Median 8.64 7.29 7.32 6.65

Last updated: 28 March 2024 9:42am

About Us  |  Advertise  |  Contact Us  |  Terms & Conditions  |  Privacy Policy  |  RSS Feeds  |  Letters  |  Archive  |  Toolbox  |  Disclaimer
 
Site by Web Developer and eyelovedesign.com