Sharemarket closes down on very low volumes

The New Zealand sharemarket slipped nearly half a percent on one of the quietest days of the year, unable to be stirred by a strong rebound on Wall Street.

Friday, April 14th 2023, 6:38PM

by BusinessDesk

Buyers sat on the sideline as the S&P/NZX 50 Index slid in the afternoon and closed at 11,880.56, down 50.03 points or 0.42% after reaching an intraday high of 11,937.4.

The index finished the week slightly ahead and it has risen 3.5% so far this year. Only 20.09 million shares worth $76.69m changed hands, and there were 77 gainers and 60 decliners on the main board.

Jeremy Sullivan, an investment advisor with Hamilton Hindin Greene, said the local market has been somewhat mixed on light volumes. Inflation data (the March consumer price index) out next week will be key for the direction of the market.

“Japan has told the G7 that it will continue printing money – it has been doing it for 15 years – because it is worried about deflation. That is going to be a concern for Western economies over the next few years,” he said. There were further signs of cooling inflation in the United States with the March producer price index (the prices paid by companies) declining by 0.5%. Economists expected prices to stay the same as in February.

Excluding food and energy, the index shed 0.1% from February month, while economists estimated a 0.2% increase. This gave hope that the Federal Reserve would soon end its interest rate hike campaign.

The falling inflationary pressures certainly brightened up Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.14% to 34,029.69; S&P 500 gained 1.33% to 4,146.22 and is up 8% for the year; and the technology-driven Nasdaq Composite rose 1.99% to 12,166.27, and a gain of 16.24% so far this year.

Leaders slip

At home, the market was led down by Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, declining 44c to $26.44; Ebos Group falling $1.15 or 2.51% to $44.65; Infratil decreasing 20.5c or 2.18% to $9.215; Meridian Energy shedding 5c to $5.20; and Mercury also down 5c to $6.25.

Genesis Energy gained 6.5c or 2.4% to $2.775, and Vector increased 5c to $4.11. Contact, up 1c to $7.68, said in its March operating report that mass market electricity and gas sales were 298GWh, slightly ahead of the previous corresponding period. South Island hydro storage was 110% of mean and North Island 193%.

Chorus continued its good run, up 7c to $8.68; Port of Tauranga gained 7c to $6.40; a2 Milk increased 8c to $6.25; Mainfreight added 46c to $71.45; and Napier Port rebounded 17c or 6.8% to $2.67.

Freightways was up 20c or 2.17% to $9.41; Tourism Holdings increased 11c or 2.67% to $4.232; Arvida Group gained 3c or 2.97% to $1.04; Smartpay Holdings rose 4c or 3.05 to $1.35; Pacific Edge improved 1.5c or 3.33% to 46.5c; and NZ Oil & Gas added 1c or 2.78% to 37c.

Restaurant Brands was down 15c or 2.21% to $6.65; Vulcan Steel shed 13c to $8.33; Third Age Health declined 3c or 1.89% to $1.56; NZME decreased 2c or 1.9% to $1.03; and Cannasouth was down 1.5c or 5% to 28.5c.

Other decliners were Green Cross Health down 5c or 3.57% to $1.35; Air NZ giving up 1c to 77c; PaySauce declining 1.5c or 5.08% to 28c; Enprise Group shedding 2c or 2.33% to 84c; and T&G Global down 4c or 1.95% to $2.01.

Allied Farmers, which has had top-level management changes, was up 3c or 4.23% to 74c. Richard Milsom who founded NZ Rural Land Management is Allied’s new managing director and Shelley Ruha has taken over as chair.

Christopher Swasbrook stood down from that role after his company Elevation Capital Management sold its 15.8% shareholding in Allied to persons associated with Milsom.

NZ Windfarms, up 0.002c to 13.4c, earlier told the market it is utilising the fast-track resource consent process for a new development on the boundary of the existing Te Rere Hau windfarm near Palmerston. The Aokautere windfarm would produce 170GWh of renewable energy a year, capable of powering 23,000 average NZ homes.

Blis Technologies, which manufactures advanced probiotic strains, was up 0.001c or 3.7% to 2.8c after last week upgrading its full-year guidance to $10.1m in revenue and $600,00 to $700,000 in operating earnings (ebitda) because of increased sales. Previous guidance was $9.5m-$9.8m and loss of $1m-$1.2m respectively.

Auckland Real Estate Trust, which last traded at 93c, will delist from the NZX and ASX exchanges on Tuesday.

Tags: Market Close