Market close: A2 Milk, retirement village stocks lift NZX up

A2 Milk chief executive David Bortolussi. Shares in the company gained 11c or 1.74 per cent to $6.45. Photo / Supplied

The a2 Milk Company took another spurt, supported by retirement village stocks, as the New Zealand sharemarket had another resilient day amidst international economic uncertainty.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index recovered well in the afternoon after an early fall, gaining 18.42 points or 0.16 per cent to 11,628.25. The index reached an intraday low of 11,556.78 points.

There were 61 gainers and 72 decliners on the main board, and trading was again light with 26.5 million shares transactions worth $97.59 million.

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said, "We've had a noisy period of reporting, both in New Zealand and the United States. Now, there is a void of company notices and macro-economics is influencing the markets, which are nervous."

Investors were overnight looking out for the latest US non-farm payroll numbers and whether the country was heading for a recession. Analysts, however, were expecting an additional 320,000 jobs in August and the unemployment rate holding at 3.5 per cent.

Solly said the bond market, as defined by the Bloomberg global-aggregate total return index, was technically in a bear market with the value of bonds for investors having fallen more than 20 per cent in the past year.

The US 10 Year Treasury Note yield was down 12.7 basis points to 3.261 per cent after hitting 3.47 per cent in mid-June – and investors were buying them at 1.28 per cent in early August last year. The New Zealand 10 Year Government Bond yield slipped 7.8 basis points to 3.959 per cent.

A more confident a2 Milk found renewed buying support, gaining 11c or 1.74 per cent to $6.45 with 2.13 million shares worth $13.76m changing hands.

Retirement village operators Summerset Group Holdings rose 28c or 2.59 per cent to $11.11 and Oceania Healthcare gained 3c or 3.09 per cent to $1. Ryman Healthcare was down 6c to $9.05.

Solly said the demand was still strong in the sector – "there's no evidence that people are not able or willing to move into the retirement villages."

Infratil and Mercury had strong days, rising 21.5c or 2.38 per cent to $9.23 and 16c or 2.74 per cent to $6.01 respectively. Meridian was up 1c to $4.98, and Genesis was down 4c to $2.93.

Briscoe Group was up 8c to $5.28; Napier Port increased 4c to $3.02; PGG Wrightson gained 10c or 2.18 per cent to $4.68; and Winton Land was up 6c or 2.29 per cent to $2.68.

Ampol recovered from the Australian market-sell off the day before by rising $1.343 or 3.7 per cent to $37.60. ANZ Banking Group was up 20c to $25.50, and Westpac Banking Corporation increased 30c to $24.10.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 16c to $19.79; Chorus declined 6.5c to $7.895; Mainfreight decreased 55c to $74.30; and Restaurant Brands shed 10c to $8.05.

Hallenstein Glasson was down 7c to $5.25; Scott Technology declined 10c or 3.44 per cent to $2.81; NZME fell 5c or 3.88 per cent to $1.24; and Third Age Health Services fell 9c or 4.29 per cent to $2.01.

Small caps Bremworth was down 4c or 6.25 per cent to 60c; Smartpay Holdings declined 2.5c or 3.27 per cent to 74c; and Livestock Improvement Corporation decreased 3c or 2.22 per cent to $1.32.

The rising bond yields continued to strike the property sector. Stride Property decreased 5c or 2.78 per cent to $1.75 after going ex-dividend; Investore was down 4c or 2.41 per cent to $1.62; Vital Healthcare Property Trust declined 4c to $2.70; and Precinct Properties shed 2c to $1.33.

Manawa Energy, down 3c to $5.94, has completed a $150m five-year bond issue with over-subscriptions. The bonds will be issued on September 8.

AFT Pharmaceuticals, unchanged at $3.45, is starting additional studies to meet the US Food and Drug Administration's request for more information on pain relief Maxigesic IV's medicinal packaging.