New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index rallied this week as oil prices declined on the prospect of the Strait of Hormuz reopening, although the local exchange lost some momentum with Iran’s deal with Oman coming with some fishhooks.

Serko was the best performer on the top 50 for the week as the travel software developer extended its eight-day run higher, while Santana Minerals was the pick of the broader main board, following gold prices higher.

The NZX 50 ended the week on a cool note, slumping in the closing match on Friday in relatively light volumes ahead of US employment figures and as Contact Energy’s annual result looms on Monday.

And across the Tasman, Jamie Beaton’s Crimson Education secured another 20% of acceptances in its takeover bid for ASX-listed Kip McGrath Education, with its eponymous founder Kip McGrath and fund manager Regal Partners joining Pie Funds in saying yes to the deal.

Friday slump

The NZX 50 sank 133.93 points, or 1%, to 13,824.13 on Friday, with 33 stocks falling, nine gaining and eight unchanged, paring the weekly gain to 0.9%.

The local benchmark had been on track for its best week since May, as optimism about the Strait of Hormuz reopening at the start of the week took the steam out of oil prices, while confidence in the artificial intelligence trade recovered on Microsoft’s strong cloud performance.

Serko was the top performer on the NZX 50, climbing 14% this week having eased concerns about the impact of the Middle East conflict on its operations with a trading update in late July. Meanwhile, Santana climbed 17% as gold prices revived on the pause in hostilities between the US and Iran.

Still, fears about the Middle East were lingering and Brent crude oil futures nudged up 1.6% to US$83.83 a barrel at 5pm on Friday, with a final deal on reopening the Strait of Hormuz still to be completed.

The S&P/NZX 20 index dropped 1% to 7,785.56 on Friday, with the NZX 20 futures contract for September down 0.6% at 7,776, with 25 lots traded for a value of $194,000.

Turnover across the main board was $103.4 million, of which Auckland International Airport accounted for $13.3 million as it fell 2.5% to $8.76.

“We ended with a ka-thump to the downside on light volumes leading into earnings season,” said Peter McIntyre, an investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners. “A few of those stocks have had some nice bounces and there was a bit of profit taking heading into the weekend.”

Stock markets across Asia were mixed, with the Nikkei 225 index down 0.6% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng nudging up 0.1%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index was largely unchanged in late trading. ASX-listed Kip McGrath rose 0.7% to 71.5 Australian cents in late trading after Crimson lifted its acceptances to almost 40% in its 73 cents per share takeover bid.

A heavy weight

The local index was dragged lower by heavyweight stocks, accelerating its decline into the closing match period. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare fell 1.4% to $41.70 and Infratil declined 0.9% to $14.95.

Contact fell 1.4% to $9.08 ahead of its annual result on Monday as earnings season starts to gather pace. The electricity-generator retailer was expected to beat its earnings guidance, but its outlook might come under pressure as hedging contracts reprice with softer futures prices.

Heartland Group Holdings posted the biggest decline on the day, falling 2.8% to $1.205 after the Taranaki Community Accountability Society filed an interlocutory application against the Toi Foundation’s trustees, challenging the consultation and process of the proposed sale of TSB Bank to Heartland.

Chorus slipped 0.2% to $9.55 after the government agreed to sell its non-voting preference shares for $702 million, above the book value of $642 million. Accident Compensation Corp’s investment arm bought $117.6 million of the UFB1 tranche of interest free loans and $95.6 million of the UFB2 tranche. A group of international life insurance and annuity firms were also buyers, with the investments to be managed by global asset managers.

Serko posted the biggest gain on the day, up 2.4% at $1.69, while Napier Port Holdings advanced 2.2% to $3.70 and Tourism Holdings increased 2.1% to $2.91.

Mercury NZ gained 0.7% to $6.87 after S&P Global Ratings reaffirmed the power company’s BBB+ credit rating.

Kiwi Property Group was the most heavily traded stock on the NZX 50 with a volume of 1.8 million shares changing hands. The stock was unchanged at 92 cents, while TruScreen had the biggest volume on the main board with 5.9 million shares traded as it slipped 6.3%, or 0.1 of a cent, to 1.5 cents.

Outside the benchmark index, T&G Global rose 2.3% to $2.26 after reporting a first-half loss of $30.5 million as it booked an impairment charge on the sale of its T&G Fresh business. Operating profit was up 30% at $11.6 million on a 2.6% rise in revenue at $572.3 million.

NZME gained 1.4% to $1.075 after the media company agreed to buy printing equipment from rival Stuff’s Petone facility, and said it would spend up to $15 million on the kit and relocating it. The new equipment was expected to save the printing operation $7 million a year.

The kiwi dollar traded at 58.64 US cents at 5pm in Auckland from 58.80 cents yesterday and was on track for a 0.3% weekly decline against the greenback ahead of US non-farm payrolls figures which economists predicted would show 80,000 jobs were added in the world’s biggest economy last month.

Reporting by Paul McBeth.