A bleak August for the sharemarket ends on a slight uplift
The New Zealand sharemarket, unsettled by mixed company results, a slowing economy and election uncertainty, fell more than 4% in August – the worst trading month for over a year.
Thursday, August 31st 2023, 6:36PM
by BusinessDesk
The S&P/NZX 50 Index went as low as 11,455.71 in the morning before recovering strongly to close at 11,554.48, up 33.36 points or 0.29%. It meant the index was down nearly 4.15% for the month – the previous biggest slide was 3.9% in June last year.
The session was extended for the quarterly rebalancing of the MSCI indices, and in the flurry of late trading, 81.46 million shares worth $368.39m changed hands. There were 76 gainers and 57 decliners on the main board.
Genesis Energy, up 12.5c or 5.19% to $2.535, was removed from the MSCI index, and 18.6m shares worth $47.02m were crossed.
Spark, up 6c to $5.075, and Summerset Group, gaining 35c or 3.54% to $10.25, had their weightings reduced on trade worth $35.72m and $5.9m, respectively.
Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbourt Asset Management, said it has been a tough month for the local market with a correction in company earnings and economic and political policies.
“There’s been a good clean-out in the market, and there's a sigh of relief that the month is over,” he said. “Results were pretty mixed, companies were cautious, long-term bond yields went up sharply, and the election uncertainty created an edge to the market.”
Business confidence, however, is improving though it is still negative. The ANZ August survey showed confidence lifted another 9 points to minus 4, the highest move since mid-2021, and expected own activity lifted 10 points to plus 11.
ANZ Research said, “Many firms appear to have been pleasantly surprised at how well demand has held up, considering; and the Reserve Bank has stopped raising the official cash rate (while reserving the right to change their minds), which may be creating a sense that the worst is over.
“Workers are much easier for firms to find, but unemployment is still very low, and inflation signals are dropping away very tidily.”
ANZ said pricing intentions were trending lower, and firms’ expected costs in three months have eased.
On the market
Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was up 31c to $22.71; Ebos Group gained 47c to $37.95; Napier Port added 6c or 2.68% to $2.30; and SkyCity increased 11c or 4.87% to $2.37 after the National party said it would tighten international game tax rules.
Ryman Healthcare gained 6c to $6.64; Heartland Group increased 5c or 2.87% to $1.79; and Carbon Fund was up 5c or 2.78% to $1.85.
Precinct Properties collected 1.5c to $1.23; Sky TV was up 8c or 3.31% to $2.50; Vulcan Steel added 10c to $8.50; Bremworth rose 6.5c or 15.12% to 49.5c; and Savor Group increased 2c or 6.45% to 33c.
Auckland International Airport was down 8c to $7.81 on trade worth $41.81m with suggestions that some of Auckland Council’s shareholding may come onto the market next week, now that the airport has presented its annual result and the pricing review is out of the way.
Auckland airport’s share price was $8.87 when the council decided in late May to sell a 7% stake out of its 18% holding in the airport.
In the retail sector, Hallenstein Glasson increased 16c or 2.66% to $6.18; The Warehouse rose 10c or 5.95% to $1.78; and Michael Hill was up 2c or 2% to $1.02.
Mercury Energy fell 13c or 2.05% to $6.205; Mainfreight declined $1.44 or 2.15% to $65.56; Fletcher Building shed 8c to $4.83; and a2 Milk and Synlait were down 12c or 2.34% to $5 and 4c or 2.92% to $1.33 respectively on continuing concern about China’s slowing economy.
Restaurant Brands was down a further 18c or 3.87% to $4.47; NZX decreased 4c or 3.33% to $1.16, 2 Cheap Cars shed 4c or 8% to 46c, and Foley Wines declined 3c or 2.4% to $1.22.
Investore declined 4c or 3.1% to $1.25; Vista Group shed 4c or 2.52% to $1.55; and Cook's Coffee was down 3c or 13.64% to 19c.
Delegat Group declined 12c to $8.28 on the day chair Graeme Lord announced his retirement at the annual meeting in late November, and he will be replaced in the role by founder Jim Delegat.
TradeWindow, down 0.005c to 32.5c, confirmed at its annual meeting full-year revenue guidance of $7m-$8m and reducing average monthly cash outflow to $400,00 in the second half, compared with $1m in the last six months of the 2023 financial year. Trade Window had trading revenue of $1.5m, up 28%, for the first quarter ending June.
Rua Bioscience, down 0.001c to 11c, told the market it has an agreement to manufacture and supply medicinal cannabis products to Schroll Medical of Denmark.
| « Market flat as property stocks fall on National policy | Auckland airport a bright note in a dull day on the NZ sharemarket » |
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