Market close: Buyers sit on sideline as NZ stocks fall

Photo / NZME

The New Zealand sharemarket slipped nearly half a percentage point on one of the quietest days of the year, unable to be stirred by a strong rebound on Wall Street.

Buyers sat on the sideline as the S&P/NZX 50 Index slid in the afternoon and closed at 11,880.56, down 50.03 points or 0.42 per cent after reaching an intraday high of 11,937.4.

The index finished the week slightly ahead and has risen 3.5 per cent so far this year. Only 20.09 million shares worth $76.69 million changed hands, and there were 77 gainers and 60 decliners on the main board.

Jeremy Sullivan, investment adviser with Hamilton Hindin Greene, said the local market has been somewhat mixed on light volumes. Inflation data (the March consumer price index) out next week will be key for the direction of the market.

“Japan has told the G7 that it will continue printing money – it has been doing it for 15 years – because it is worried about deflation. That is going to be a concern for Western economies over the next few years,” he said.

There were further signs of cooling inflation in the United States, with the March producer price index (the prices paid by companies) declining 0.5 per cent. Economists expected prices to stay the same as in February.

Excluding food and energy, the index shed 0.1 per cent from February month, while economists estimated a 0.2 per cent increase. This gave hope that the Federal Reserve would soon end its interest rate hike campaign.

The falling inflationary pressures certainly brightened up Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.14 per cent to 34,029.69; S&P 500 gained 1.33 per cent to 4146.22 and is up 8 per cent for the year; and the technology-driven Nasdaq Composite rose 1.99 per cent to 12,166.27, and a gain of 16.24 per cent so far this year.

At home, the market was led down by Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, declining 44c to $26.44; Ebos Group falling $1.15 or 2.51 per cent to $44.65; Infratil decreasing 20.5c or 2.18 per cent to $9.215; Meridian Energy shedding 5c to $5.20; and Mercury also down 5c to $6.25.

Genesis Energy gained 6.5c or 2.4 per cent to $2.775; and Vector increased 5c to $4.11. Contact, up 1c to $7.68, said in its March operating report that mass market electricity and gas sales were 298GWh, slightly ahead of the previous corresponding period. South Island hydro storage was 110 per cent of mean and North Island 193 per cent.

Chorus continued its good run, up 7c to $8.68; Port of Tauranga gained 7c to $6.40; a2 Milk increased 8c to $6.25; Mainfreight added 46c to $71.45; and Napier Port rebounded 17c or 6.8 per cent to $2.67.

Freightways was up 20c or 2.17 per cent to $9.41; Tourism Holdings increased 11c or 2.67 per cent to $4.232; Arvida Group gained 3c or 2.97 per cent to $1.04; Smartpay Holdings rose 4c or 3.05 to $1.35; Pacific Edge improved 1.5c or 3.33 per cent to 46.5c; and NZ Oil & Gas added 1c or 2.78 per cent to 37c.

Restaurant Brands was down 15c or 2.21 per cent to $6.65; Vulcan Steel shed 13c to $8.33; Third Age Health declined 3c or 1.89 per cent to $1.56; NZME decreased 2c or 1.9 per cent to $1.03; and Cannasouth was down 1.5c or 5 per cent to 28.5c

Other decliners were Green Cross Health down 5c or 3.57 per cent to $1.35; Air New Zealand giving up 1c to 77c; PaySauce declining 1.5c or 5.08 per cent to 28c; Enprise Group shedding 2c or 2.33 per cent to 84c; and T&G Global down 4c or 1.95 per cent to $2.01.

Allied Farmers, which has had top-level management changes, was up 3c or 4.23 per cent to 74c. Richard Milsom, who founded NZ Rural Land Management, is Allied’s new managing director, and Shelley Ruha has taken over as chairwoman.

Christopher Swasbrook stood down from that role after his company Elevation Capital Management sold its 15.8 per cent shareholding in Allied to persons associated with Milsom.

NZ Windfarms, up 0.002c to 13.4c, earlier told the market it is utilising the fast-track resource consent process for a new development on the boundary of the existing Te Rere Hau windfarm near Palmerston. The Aokautere windfarm would produce 170GWh of renewable energy a year, capable of powering 23,000 average Kiwi homes.

Blis Technologies, which manufactures advanced probiotic strains, was up 0.001c or 3.7 per cent to 2.8c after last week upgrading its full-year guidance to $10.1m in revenue and $600,00 to $700,000 in operating earnings (Ebitda) because of increased sales. Previous guidance was $9.5m-$9.8m and loss of $1m-$1.2m respectively.

Auckland Real Estate Trust, which last traded at 93c, will delist from the NZX and ASX exchanges on Tuesday.