NZ sharemarket makes gains despite headwinds

The New Zealand sharemarket showed resilience in the face of increased wholesale interest rates and a big fall in shares across the Tasman.

Friday, July 7th 2023, 6:24PM

by BusinessDesk

Apart from a lunchtime lull, the S&P/NZX 50 Index climbed strongly in the afternoon and closed at 11,934.67, up 20.78 points or 0.17% after falling more than 1% at one stage with an intraday low of 11,812.86.

The index gained 0.52% this week and is up 4.4% so far this year.

There were 83 decliners and 45 gainers over the whole market, with 36.2 million shares worth $111.93m changing hands.

Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said the local market was surprisingly resilient in the context of weak leads from the United States and Australia, and the rising bond yields.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index had fallen 1.64% to 7046.2 points at 5.45pm NZ time.

The NZ 10 Year government bond yield was up 12 basis points to 4.847% and the Australian equivalent increased 13.8 points to 4.265%. The US Treasury 2 Year yield has hit a 16-year high of 5%.

“For our market to ignore those increases, that’s quite impressive,” said Goodson. “It feels like there are flows of money coming into the market.”

US dips

Investors in the US started worrying about a further rate rise from the Federal Reserve following better-than-expected jobs data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.07% to 33,922.26 points; S&P 500 declined 0.79 to 4411.59; and Nasdaq Composite shed 0.82% to 13,679.04.

At home, Summerset Group went above the $10 mark for the first time in eight months after gaining 20c or 2.02% to $10.10.

Transport and logistics companies Mainfreight rebounded $1.79 or 2.51% to $72.98, and Freightways was up 15c or 1.78% to $8.60.

Ebos Group gained 37c to $37.55; Port of Tauranga increased 9c to $6.29; and the energy stocks Meridian and Mercury were up 5c to $5.60 and 3c to $6.58 respectively.

Carbon Fund increased 6c or 4.58% to $1.37. Carbon unit prices have collapsed in the past three weeks, down 40% to $36.5 per tonne, due to a lack of confidence in emissions trading scheme policy.

Other gainers were Colonial Motor Company up 17c or 1.88% to $9.20; Seeka rising 14c or 5% to $2.94; Steel & Tube collecting 2c or 1.8% to $1.13; and hospitality group Savor up 2c or 6.45% to 33c.

Chris Kinraid is leaving his job as KMD Brands' chief financial officer to be the chief executive of fellow listed retailer Hallenstein Glasson, replacing Stuart Duncan and starting by the end of the year. Hallenstein’s share price was down 10c to $5.95, and KMD declined 1c to $1.03.

Pacific Edge gained 1.5c or 7.5% to 21.5c following its 100% rise the day before. Medicare contractor Novitas is reviewing the funding for Pacific Edge’s Cxbladder tests in the United States.

Tourism Holdings fell 9c or 2.46% to $3.57; a2 Milk shed 4c to $5.44; Delegat Group was down 20c or 2.22% to $8.80; and AFT Pharmaceuticals declined 6c to $3.58.

Precinct Properties was down 0.005c to $1.295 after telling the market that the value of its $3.2 billion portfolio, at June 30, is expected to decline $250m or 7.1%. The decrease will reduce net tangible assets by 16c a share. Fellow property company Investore declined 2c to $1.42.

Sky TV declined 4c to $2.35 after announcing the extension of its content and platform agreement with Warner Bros Discovery.

Vista Group was down 7c or 3.85% to $1.75; Serko declined 5c to $3.90; T&G Global shed 6c or 2.91% to $2; and CDL Investments decreased 2c or 2.53% to 77c.

Tags: Market Close