Market close: NZ stocks finish week on a high

The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed at 11,347.73, up 34.2 points or 0.30 per cent.

The New Zealand sharemarket had its second gain of the week on the back of strong rebounds in offshore bourses and further economic stimulus in China.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed at 11,347.73, up 34.2 points or 0.30 per cent after fluctuating between an intraday low of 11,290.27 and high of 11,365.26. The index finished flat for the week and is down 1.1 per cent for the year so far.

There were 87 gainers and 31 decliners on the main board. Trading was extended for the quarterly rebalance of the NZX and FTSE Russell Indices, and by the end of the day 128.64 million shares worth $364.97 million changed hands.

In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had its best day since August 7, rising 0.96 per cent to 34,907.11 points. The S&P 500 was up 0.84 per cent to 4505.10 points and Nasdaq Composite increased 0.81 per cent to 13,926.05.

In the first major initial public offering for nearly two years, chip design company Arm Holdings controlled by SoftBank jumped nearly 25 per cent on its first day of listing, rising from US$51 to US$63.59. Arm has a US$60 billion valuation.

There was also plenty of solid economic news. The Producer Price Index rose 0.7 per cent, ahead of the market expectation of 0.4 per cent and the biggest monthly gain since June last year. On an annual basis the cost of producing goods and services was up 1.6 per cent.

Retail sales were also above expectation, rising 0.6 per cent in August compared with the previous month. The market expected 0.1 per cent. The employment market remains strong. Commentators say US consumers are proving relatively resilient to cost-of-living pressures.

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said Chinese authorities have cut the cash rate used as a reference point for lending, with banks providing more liquidity.

“Latest numbers have shown that China’s economy slowly improved in August, and this has helped sentiment. And inflation in the US is not as bad as some people thought,” he said.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index had risen 0.97 per cent to 18,233.43 points at 6pm NZ time; and the S&P/ASX 200 Index had increased 1.35 per cent to 7283.4.

At home, Skellerup Holdings up 15c or 3.23 per cent to $4.78; Tourism Holdings gaining 3c to $3.73, KMD Brands unchanged at 78c, and Pacific Edge increasing 0.006c or 5 per cent to 12.6c are being removed from the FTSE Russell indices.

Up to 12 stocks had their weightings increased or decreased on the NZX, while Meridian, gaining 7c to $5.36, and Vulcan Steel, up 19c or 2.12 per cent to $9.15, were similarly affected on the ASX.

Meridian said in its latest operating report that national hydro storage for the month to September 11 decreased from 106 per cent to 83 per cent, and retail sales volumes in August were 4.1 per cent higher than the same month last year. It was the coldest August in seven years.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, down 12c to $21.40, made presentations to analysts and investors in Mexico and California, but it told the market there was no new material information. “At least they are being consistent with what they have told us before,” said Solly.

Among those having less weighting on the NZX, Ebos Group was down 46c to $35.15; Auckland International Airport declined 11c to $7.74; and Summerset Group decreased 18c or 1.82 per cent to $9.70.

Among those having more weighting, Ryman Healthcare was up 11c to $6.60; Spark added 4c to $4.78; Mercury Energy increased 19c or 3.19 per cent to $6.15; and Mainfreight declined $1.88 or 2.84 per cent to $64.40, its lowest level in more than 33 months.

Chorus was up 18.5c or 2.49 per cent to $7.61; Fletcher Building gained 12c or 2.69 per cent to $4.58; a2 Milk collected 7c to $4.88; Sky TV increased 10c or 4.2 per cent to $2.48; and SkyCity improved 6c or 3.;09 per cent to $2.

Kiwi Property increased 3.5c or 4.17 per cent to 87.5c; Argosy Property collected 4c or 3.57 per cent to $1.16; Heartland Group gained 6c or 3.47 per cent to $1.79; Winton Land was up 5c or 2.17 per cent to $2.35; Restaurant Brands improved 8c or 1.87 per cent to $4.35; and Radius Residential Care added 1c or 5.88 per cent to 18c.

Vital Healthcare Property Trust was down 4c or 1.93 per cent to $2.03 on trade worth $13.5m; Arvida Group declined 3c or 2.4 per cent to $1.22; Vista Group shed 7c or 4.46 per cent to $1.50; Green Cross Health decreased 4c or 3.08 per cent to $1.26; and PGG Wrightson was down 10c or 2.82 per cent to $3.45.

MHM Automation was down 4c or 4.04 per cent to 95c after reporting a 43 per cent increase in revenue to $96.7m; a 107 per cent rise in operating earnings (ebitda) to $9.9m; and a 126 per cent gain in net profit to $4.11m for the year ending June.

MHM’s result included two months’ trading from Wyma Engineering, and the automation manufacturer has forward sales of $63m.