Market close: Holiday mode sets in for sharemarket

Scales Corp surged 20c or 6.56 per cent to $3.25 after updating the market that it escaped the ravages of Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Supplied

After the shock of the Reserve Bank’s half a per cent hike in the Official Cash Rate, it was all quiet on the New Zealand sharemarket front with investors switching to Easter holiday mode.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index had an up and down day, and closed at 11,870.08, ahead 3.25 points or 0.03 per cent after reaching a high of 11,916.39 and low of 11,833.74.

The index ended the shortened week flat and is up 3.4 per cent for the year so far. There were trading blues the day before the four-day holiday weekend, with only 18.39 million shares worth $67.87 million changing hands. The gainers (61) and decliners (60) were evenly divided.

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said investors globally were getting anxious about the recession risk and it went up a notch in New Zealand with the OCR rise.

“Local investors were holding a little bit of liquidity back in case something happens over the weekend. The more defensive stocks such as utilities and healthcare were holding up better than consumer discretionary, IT and industrial shares with the lag impact of the higher rates coming through.

“The Scarbro Construction liquidation indicates the real stress emerging in the construction and development sector, and the Reserve Bank is definitely not taking the heat out, at this stage, Solly said.

He said the manufacturing data coming out of China was strong and the country’s economy is accelerating faster following the latest reopening, and that’s a positive tone for the New Zealand market.

The NZ dollar fell back to the pre-OCR announcement level, trading at US62.92c against the American greenback after reaching the day’s high of US63.26c.

The ANZ World Commodity Price Index increased a further 1.3 per cent in March, with stronger returns for meat largely offsetting weaker aluminium prices.

At home, Scales Corp surged 20c or 6.56 per cent to $3.25 after updating the market that it escaped the ravages of Cyclone Gabrielle. Scales reinstated its full-year net profit guidance at $14m-$19m.

The apple exporter said its latest crop will be down 25 per cent from its initial forecast, and total tree loss was 5 per cent of total planted orchard area. Of this area, less than 50 per cent will need to be replaced because of expiring leases.

Scales is increasing its focus on Mr Apple premium sales in Asia and Middle East. The latest apple crop is 50 per cent picked and 12 per cent sold at 2021 price levels.

Solly said Scales had a much better outcome in terms of less damage and their recovery is important for Hawke’s Bay and New Zealand exporting. “There’s still work to be done but Scales has an effective team.”

Napier Port, down 2c to $2.59, also provided a post-Gabrielle update, saying container volumes for the six months ending March increased 5.7 per cent, bulk cargo declined 9.3 per cent, and cruise ship calls increased from one to 62.

The port company said prior to the cyclone, operating activities were tracking towards the top end of the previously-reported guidance and there had been reduced cargo volumes from mid-February.

Second quarter container volumes decreased 0.6 per cent to 59,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) compared with 60,000 in the same period last year. Bulk cargo was down 21.2 per cent to 570,000 tonnes, with log exports declining 175,000 tonnes or 30.1 per cent.

Market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was up 39c to $27; Ebos Group gained 19c to $45.59; Port of Tauranga increased 11c or 1.78 per cent to $6.30; Vector added 7c to $4.07 and Skellerup Holdings improved 11c or 2.2 per cent to $5.11.

Other gainers were Restaurant Brands up 30c or 4.51 per cent to $6.95; Sky TV increasing 5c or 12.96 per cent to $2.60; Steel & Tube adding 2c or 1.87 per cent to $1.09; ikeGPS rebounding 2c or 2.44 per cent to 84c; and Green Cross Health rising 32c or 1.82per cent to $1.68.

Software firms Gentrack, specialising in utilities and airports, was up 6c or 1.9 per cent to $3.21; Eroad (transport) gained 2c or 3.45 per cent to 60c; Serko (travel) was down 5c or 2.22 per cent to $2.20; and Vista Group (cinema) declined 5c or 3.7 per cent to $1.20.

In the retirement sector, Summerset Group gained 10c to $8.79, Ryman Healthcare was down 8c or to $5.30; Oceania Healthcare declined 3c or 4 per cent to 72; and Arvida Group was up 1c to 98c.

Mainfreight declined $1.28 or 1.83 per cent to $68.72; a2 Milk was down 12c or 1.93 per cent to $6.09; Freightways shed 25c or 2.61 per cent to $9.32; Briscoe Group decreased 14c or 2.94 per cent to $4.63; ANZ Bank fell 41c to $24.58; Seeka drifted 5c to $2.85; and NZX was down 2c or 2.48 per cent to $1.19.

Total equity trades on the NZX in March fell 34.2 per cent to 994.93 million and value was down 39.5 per cent to $2.965 billion. Year to date, total trades are down 20.5 per cent to 2.77 million and value falling 16.3 per cent to $8.96b.

Rua Bioscience, down 0.001c to 18.8c, has submitted its first medicinal cannabis dossier for regulatory licensing in the Polish market

Asset Plus, unchanged at 25c, told the market the value of its portfolio has reduced $13m at the end of March, and it has a sale agreement of $36.75m for its Auckland Stoddart Rd property. Asset Plus expects its net tangible assets to fall 3.6c a share to 40c.