Market close: Eroad leads falls as NZ sharemarket remains unchanged

Photo / NZME

New Zealand's benchmark equity index remained unchanged on Tuesday in a second day of light trading, with many market participants away during school holidays.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index declined less than a single point to 11,162.73. Turnover was well below average at $76 million. Trading volumes on the index were very thin, but Eroad had the biggest fall with a 3.2 per cent drop to $2.13 while Tourism Holdings had the largest gain, up 3.3 per cent at $2.49.

Outside of the index, NZ Automotive Investments plunged almost 28 per cent to 47 cents after most of its directors resigned following a disagreement with its largest shareholder. Four members of the board announced their resignation today, after being told a fellow director and 46 per cent shareholder would put forward a proposal to remove three of them from the board at next month's annual meeting.

Chairman Charles Bolt said there had been a "fundamental breakdown of trust and confidence and irreconcilable differences" between the four and David Yusuke Sena.

Sky Network Television confirmed it is in "advanced discussions" with World Rugby to negotiate a deal that could secure it the rights to the sport's competitions over several years. Shares in the pay TV operator rose 3.5 per cent to $2.39, with investors hoping the company could win the marquee rights.

Arvida Group was one of the few stocks with higher than usual trading volumes, but its share price remained unchanged at $1.40.

SPI Asset Management partner, Stephen Innes said markets globally were fairly quiet, while waiting for several risks in Europe to be resolved this week.

Perhaps the most notable is that maintenance on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline – which carries gas from Russia to Germany – will end on Thursday, and the market is waiting to see if the gas starts flowing again. There is some concern that Russia may refuse to reactivate the pipeline in retaliation for Europe's support of Ukraine.

Elsewhere in energy markets, oil climbed back above $100 a barrel after Saudi Arabia declined to increase production following a visit by US President Joe Biden.

The NZ dollar gained against the US currency throughout the afternoon and was trading at 61.8 US cents by the end of the day, having started the week at about 61.5. While the Kiwi spiked to 90.9 cents against the Australian dollar after Monday's consumer price data, it has been unable to hold those gains and fell to 90.12 cents today.

- BusinessDesk