Market close: NZX continues record climb

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The New Zealand sharemarket, fuelled by recovering price rises right across the board, finished its best week in three months on a new record high.

The S&P/NZX 50 gained 44.62 points or 0.36 per cent to 12,280.54, after reaching an intraday high of 12,312.69, and on the previous day surpassing the previous peak of 12,073.34 set on February 21.

There were 87 gainers and 50 decliners over the whole market, with trading reaching 50.8 million shares worth $151.82 million. It was the index's eighth successive daily rise.

"We've had a pretty solid week – the best since early July," said Mark Lister, head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners.

"We've seen good rallies in the United States markets, and the gentailers rebounding strongly on the expectation that the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter closure is not all over.

"And interest rates continue to fall. A six-month deposit rate at the bank is 1 per cent. Businesses are relatively optimistic about the next six to 12 months – there's light at the end of the tunnel rather than just gloom and doom.

"I don't see the demand for good-quality stocks turning around. Fisher and Paykel Healthcare and a2 Milk drove the market through the Covid crisis and have faced selling pressure in the last month or so. But a whole bunch of other companies have taken the baton and run with it," Lister said.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was up 9c to $34.53 but a2 Milk fell 11c to $15.59. The "other" stocks like Contact Energy surged 30c or 3.97 per cent to $7.85; Summerset Group climbed 42c or 4.52 per cent to $9.72; Ebos Group rose 24c to $24.76; online travel provider Serko increased 10c or 2.13 per cent to $4.79; and Fletcher Building gained 10c or 2.3 per cent to $4.45.

From the energy sector, Trustpower increased 19c or 2.57 per cent to $7.59, Genesis was up 5c to $3.18 but Meridian stalled, falling 10c to $5.40.

Amongst the decliners, Freightways fell 8c to $8.31, SkyCity slipped 3c to $3.11, and The Warehouse also lost 3c to $2.17.

Chorus reported that fibre broadband connections increased 33,000 during the first quarter of the 2021 financial year but copper broadband and voice connections decreased by 57,000. Its share price fell 8c to $8.82.

The biggest decliner was Enprise Group, which invests in high-growth technology companies, falling 15c or 12.93 per cent to $1.01. Rakon, which makes advanced frequency and timing products, was up 2.5c or 6.49 per cent to 41c.

Investore Property, which owns 43 large format retail stores, said its gross valuation for the portfolio would increase $85.3m in the six months to the end of September, representing a net rise of 9.4 per cent. Investore's portfolio will be worth $980.3m with a loan-to-value ratio of 28.3 per cent, and its share price edged ahead 2c to $2.24.

Argosy Property is buying two industrial sites, totalling 10.64ha and 23,000 sq m of buildings, for $76m with a holding return of 4.7 per cent. Argosy is in negotiations to sell the Albany Lifestyle Centre after an earlier purchaser Cook Group pulled out and forfeited a deposit of $4.5m.

Argosy is adding a 11th floor to its green building in downtown Wellington, it has stopped negotiating with a major international retail tenant, and it has submitted an insurance claim of $46.9m for material damage to its Waterloo Quay building. Argosy's share price remained unchanged at $1.41.