David McConnochie, investment adviser with Forsyth Barr, said the banking stocks on Wall Street lifted 2 per cent overall. “First Citizens has got a pretty good deal and optimism flowed through the markets. It looks like the banking sector is stabilising.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.6 per cent to 32,432.08, while across the Tasman the S&P/ASX 200 Index had risen 1.09 per cent to 7037.6 points at 6pm NZ time.
“There was a strong day in the lithium and oil stocks in Australia spurred by a takeover offer for Liontown Resources,” said McConnochie.
The latest Australian inflation rate, out this week, is forecast to fall to 7.1 per cent, from 7.4 per cent, and this increases the expectation that the Reserve Bank will leave interest rate rises on hold at its meeting next month.
New Zealand’s Reserve Bank meets next Wednesday and ANZ expects a 25 basis points increase in the official cash rate (OCR) to 5 per cent.
The bank said on balance local economic data since the February monetary policy statement has not convincingly tilted things in either direction, and it is still forecasting an OCR peak of 5.25 per cent with one more hike in May.
On the homefront, Mercury Energy rose 24c or 4.01 per cent to $6.22; Contact was up 27c or 3.69 per cent to $7.59; Meridian increased 10c or 1.98 per cent to $5.14; and Vector added 5c to $3.90.
Retirement village operators came alive, with Ryman Healthcare rising 19c or 3.78 per cent to $5.22; Summerset Group increasing 30c or 3.49 per cent to $8.90; and Arvida Group adding 2c or 2.13 per cent to 96c.
Other leading stocks Fisher and Paykel Healthcare increased 22c to $26.37; Fletcher Building was up 13c or 3.05 per cent to $4.39; Mainfreight surged $3.09 or 4.56 per cent to $70.79; and Port of Tauranga was up 12c or 1.97 per cent to $6.20.
The property sector had another solid day. Kiwi was up 3c or 3.45 per cent to 90c; Argosy also gained 3c or 2.73 per cent to $1.13; Stride added 2c to $1.34; and Precinct collected 2c to $1.275. Investore, however, was down 3c or 2.11 per cent to $1.39.
Property for Industry, down 1c to $2.24, has increased its loan facility with Bank of New Zealand from $100m to $175m and extended it to the end of March 2025.
Infratil increased 15c to $9; Sky TV rose 9c or 3.61 per cent to $2.58; Heartland Group collected 3c or 1.96 per cent to $1.56; Vista Group added 4c or 3.15 per cent to $1.31; and Ventia Services was up 7c or 2.59 per cent to $2.77.
In the retail sector, Briscoe Group rose 19c or 4.34 per cent to $4.57; KMD Brands was up 2c or 2.3 per cent to 89c; and Hallenstein Glasson gained 4c to $5.44.
A fall in earnings has hit The Warehouse Group, down 8c or 4.12 per cent to $1.86, a 50 per cent fall since sitting at $3.75 in mid-September last year.
Synlait Milk continued its slide after another broker downgrade, down 9c or 3.96 per cent to $2.18. Synlait has fallen from $3.68 set on December 13 and is down nearly 33 per cent over the past 12 months. It reached an all-time high of $12.80 on August 1, 2018.
Ebos Group was down 49c to $45.20; a2 Milk declined 12c or 1.88 per cent to $6.28; T&G Global shed 6c or 2.8 per cent to $2.08; Rakon fell 3c or 3.26 per cent to 89c; Accordant Group decreased 4c or 2.44 per cent to $1.60; and ikeGPS was down 2c or 2.33 per cent to 84c.
AFT Pharmaceuticals was down 6c to $3.35; Eroad declined 2c or 2.82 per cent to $2.08. Serko decreased 5c or 2.17 per cent to $2.25; and Foley Wines fell 6c or 4.44 per cent to $1.29.
Private Land and Property Fund, down 1.3c to $1.327, told the market that the valuation of its Marlborough vineyards has increased $6.5m, adding 5.1 per cent to its net asset value of $1.4063 per unit.
