NZ shares rise; Comvita gains as honey definition mooted, SkyCity up

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New Zealand shares rose, with Comvita recovering some ground after last week's slump as the government proposed a definition of manuka honey. Tourism Holdings, SkyCity Entertainment Group and Arvida Group were among leading gainers.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 15.52 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 7,254.38. Within the index, 31 stocks gained, 10 fell and nine were unchanged. Turnover was $139 million, of which $31 million was trading in Spark New Zealand shares. The benchmark index reached a six-month high last week but has since slipped back to trade in a relatively narrow range.

The market "is still bouncing along on relatively high multiples in general terms," said David Price, a broker at Forsyth Barr. "It's going to need a boost from earnings and probably a bit better than what we saw" in the latest round of results.

Comvita climbed 3.8 per cent to $7.40, having tumbled from $8.60 last week after the manuka honey products company warned it would post an operational loss this year due to weaker-than-expected trading and a poor season for the honey harvest in New Zealand. Today, the Ministry for Primary Industries released a scientific definition of manuka honey, involving four chemicals and a DNA marker, as part of a consultation package on honey exports, saying authentication was "essential to maintaining New Zealand mānuka honey's premium position in overseas markets."

SkyCity rose 1.8 per cent to $4.46 while Tourism Holdings, the campervan rental company, gained 3.1 per cent to $3.70.

Arvida Group, the retirement village and aged care facilities operator, rose 1.6 per cent to $1.28, while Summerset Group gained 0.9 per cent to $5.45 and Ryman Healthcare rose 0.1 per cent to $8.70.

Port of Tauranga rose about 2 per cent to $4.10 and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gained 1 per cent to $9.74.

Opus International Consultants rose 1 per cent to 97 cents after the engineering consultancy told shareholders at their annual meeting that it is seeing the benefits of its new business strategy. Chairman Kerry McDonald, who also announced his retirement in the next few months, said while the 2016 result was disappointing there were key elements that were "positive and encouraging," including in Australia and Canada which have been the two areas of "greatest difficulty".

Westpac Banking Corp rose 1.3 per cent to $37.72 and Heartland Bank gained 1.2 per cent to $1.70.

Spark was the biggest decliner of the NZX 50, falling 2.9 per cent to $3.50 as 8.7 million shares changed hands. Infratil dipped 2.3 per cent to $2.92.

Scott Technology rose 1.7 per cent to $3.05. Last week the company posted a 48 per cent increase in first-half profit and chief executive Chris Hopkins says a global drive for increased automation means the industrial robotics firm is in a "sweet spot".

Among other smaller companies, Trilogy International gained 3.8 per cent to $2.49, Serko fell 3.6 per cent to 27 cents and Rubicon fell 2.1 per cent to 23.5 cents.