Airport, Goodman and Z shares lead index up

Auckland Airport rose 3.1 per cent to $5.74. Photo / Greg Bowker

A2 Milk slips back from record high but still up 291 per cent for year on back of China demand

New Zealand shares rose, led by Auckland International Airport, Goodman Property Trust and Z Energy, while A2 Milk fell from a record high.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 26.95 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 6319.38. Within the index, 25 stocks rose, 16 fell and nine were unchanged. Turnover was $121 million.

"Oil prices were up a wee bit overnight, and the US market was relatively strong, so we're looking towards a good run for the year," said Robert Garden, investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners.

"There was a bit of slippage in New Zealand at the end of November and early December, and we've seen that ground recovered in a lot of stocks [yesterday]."

Auckland Airport led the index up, advancing 3.1 per cent to $5.74.

Goodman Property rose 2.9 per cent to $1.265, Argosy Property advanced 2.2 per cent to $1.18, and Kiwi Property Group was up 1.5 per cent to $1.36, after property stocks fell on Tuesday.

Z Energy rose 2.7 per cent to $6.78. The stock has touched a record high of $6.80 twice this month, but fell on December 18 after the Commerce Commission said it had delayed its decision on whether to approve Z's application to buy Chevron New Zealand's service station chains until the end of April, adding about $10 million to the cost of the acquisition.

"Market expectation is that the transaction will go through," Garden said. "Obviously the Commerce Commission taking a bit more time has cast a little bit of doubt over it, but I think it will still go through."

In the lead-up to Christmas, there were a couple of days where there were 27 or 28 million shares traded each day, and the stock has seen a big swing down ... from that high.

A2 Milk fell 9.3 per cent to $2.06, ending a rally which saw it more than double in value from $1.10 since December 17, when it announced a second earnings upgrade for the year.

The stock hit an intraday high of $2.49, up from Tuesday's close of $2.27, before ending the day lower. The stock has risen 291 per cent this year off strong Chinese demand for infant formula, making it the top performer on the NZX 50 Index.

"It's just investors trying to be comfortable with what they are paying for it," Garden said. "The earnings upgrade obviously created a lot of interest around the story, there was a lot of Australian interest.

"In the lead-up to Christmas, there were a couple of days where there were 27 or 28 million shares traded each day, and the stock has seen a big swing down ... from that high."

Ebos dipped 2.8 per cent to $14. The stock has risen 46.2 per cent this year, and Ebos said in October that it expects annual earnings to again grow at a double-digit rate, after a positive start in the first quarter.