Market close: NZ shares join global rebound

Photo / NZME

The New Zealand sharemarket traded positively all day, picking up nearly half a per cent, following a strong rebound on Wall Street and elsewhere overseas.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed at 12,709.14, up 58.29 points or 0.46 per cent, after reaching an intraday high of 12,728.49.

There were 97 gainers and just 39 decliners over the whole market on solid volume of 63.4 million shares worth $193.75 million.

Mark Lister, head of private wealth research with Craigs Investment Partners, said individual stocks were bouncing around and with little corporate or economic news locally, there was no consistent theme to the rises.

"Our market is presently being driven by what it is seeing in the bigger international ones, and will continue to do so this week with swag of corporate results to come in the United States.

"Wall Street rebounded strongly and the Asian and Australian markets also followed suit – and New Zealand is going along for the ride," Lister said.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index was up 0.85 per cent to 7313.80 points at 6pm NZ time. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered 1.62 per cent of its previous day's 2 per cent fall, closing at 34,511.99 points. The S&P 500 Index increased 1.52 per cent to 4323.06, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.57 per cent to 14,498.88.

At home, the eclectic group of main movers were NZX, rising 9c or 4.95 per cent to $1.91; Mercury Energy, up 21c or 3.24 per cent to $6.69; Arvida increasing 5c or 2.42 per cent to $2.12; Steel and Tube gaining 6c or 5.26 per cent to $1.20; and NZME picking up 3c or 3.23 per cent to 96c – all representing different sectors.

Steel & Tube Holdings reported a strong performance and updated operating earnings of $20m-$22m, including property gains of $2.8m, for the year ending June. Steel & Tube expects to pay a dividend in September.

Market heavyweight Fisher and Paykel Healthcare continued to strengthen, increasing 25c to $31.85; a2 Milk rose 17c or 2.34 per cent to $7.43; Fletcher Building climbed 23c or 3.27 per cent to $7.27; Ryman Healthcare gained 6c to $13.07; and Genesis Energy collected 8c or 2.37 per cent to $3.45.

The port companies were on the move with Port of Tauranga rising 15c or 2.17 per cent to $7.05; Napier Port up 7c or 2.12 per cent to $3.37; and South Port New Zealand picking up 2c to $7.99.

SkyCity Entertainment recovered 4c to $3.32; Scales Corporation increased 9c or 1.93 per cent to $4.75; Argosy Property gained 2.5c to $1.65; and ArborGen Holdings rose 2.5c or 8.33 per cent to 32.5c

The big banks had a good day. ANZ Banking Group increased 53c or 1.84 per cent to $29.40; and Westpac Banking Corporation was up 29c to $26.23.

Among the decliners, Ebos Group shed 60c or 1.87 per cent to $31.50; Auckland International Airport lost 11.5c to $7.275; Contact Energy was down 6c to $8.23; Radius Residential Care decreased 4c or 4.76 per cent to 80c; and Scott Technology declined 5c or 1.82 per cent to $2.70.

Rural services company PGG Wrightson increased 7c or 2.08 per cent to $3.44 after telling the market trading was strong over the second half and operating earnings (ebitda) is expected to be $56m for the year ending June.

Vector reported electricity network connections increased 1.9 per cent to 590,799 for the year ending June, and gas connections were up 2.2 per cent to 116,472. More than 395,000 advanced meters are now installed in Australia, and Vector's share price was unchanged at $4.03.

Hallenstein Glasson Holdings told the market it now has 26 stores closed in Sydney and Victoria because of Covid lockdowns, and its share price remained unchanged at $7.31.

Smartpay Holdings reported strong growth in Australia, with revenue increasing 158 per cent for the year ending June, and total transacting value rising 167 per cent, from $224m to $599m, through 7306 retail terminals. Its share price increased 0005c to 85.5c.

NZ Oil and Gas' joint venture partner, Central Petroleum, advised that the Mereenie second development well in Northern Territory has been spudded in, and NZOG's share price increased 1c to 45c.