NZ shares rise; index moves push Port of Tauranga to record

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 29.46 points, or 0.3 percent, to 11,254.74. Within the index, 26 stocks rose, 21 fell, and three were unchanged. Turnover was $427.6 million with new weightings in S&P/NZ indices and FTSE/Russell indices prompting large investors to adjust their portfolios.

The benchmark index gained more than 3 percent this week as investors looked past the threat of a second wave of covid-19 in favour of a better-than-expected earnings season.

Shane Solly, portfolio manager at Harbour Asset Management, said fears of a second wave had shifted which stocks investors were buying. 

The “dash for trash” - as investors bought into the hard-hit stocks once the economy reopened - had slowed as the pandemic proved more persistent than some had hoped, he said.