Market close: NZ stocks get welcome rebound

Shares in Rakon increased after launching its latest semiconductor chip Niku as it moves to strengthen its artificial intelligence (AI) portfolio. Photo / Dean Purcell

The New Zealand share market had a welcome gain as stocks on Wall Street rebounded strongly and business confidence picked up locally.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index did have a late fall and closed at 10,757.69, up 16.12 points or 0.15 per cent and stemming seven successive days of falls.

The index had fallen into correction territory, declining more than 10 per cent from the July 31 high of 12,056.15. The market is down 6.1 per cent for the year to date.

There were 63 gainers and 71 decliners over the whole market on improved volumes of 31.11 million share transactions worth $109.96 million.

Mark Lister, investment director with Craigs Investment Partners, said it was good to see the market have a positive day – as it had been a while.

“We have suffered a correction and are heading for our third negative year in a row. With a bit of luck, we might see some stability on the market and November and December have traditionally been the best months of the year.”

The ANZ Business Outlook showed business confidence lept 21 points to plus 23 and expected own activity increased 12 points to plus 23 in October – the highest level since mid-2017 when, coincidentally, National was the government.

“It gives us confidence that economic activity is holding up well,” Lister said.

In the United States, the S&P 500 came out of correction territory after rising 1.2 per cent to 4166.82 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 511 points or 1.58 per cent to 32,928.96 – its best day since June 2 - and the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.16 per cent to 12,789.48.

Gold fell back below US$2000 at US$1994.5 an ounce, the US 10-Year Treasury Note yield eased to 4.89 per cent, and the NZ dollar was slightly higher against the American greenback at US58.31c.

On the local market, Mainfreight recovered 94c to $57.24; Ebos Group was up 71c or 2.07 per cent to $34.99; Mercury Energy increased 17c or 2.97 per cent to $5.90; and Chorus added 9c to $7.175.

Serko rose 18c or 4.48 per cent to $4.20; Restaurant Brands increased 12c or 3.3 per cent to $3.76; Napier Port gained 8c or 3.72 per cent to $2.23; and My Food Bag was up 0.009c or 6.92 per cent to 13.9c.

Skellerup Holdings was down 17c or 2.3.62 per cent to $4.52; The Warehouse declined 3c to $1.72; 2 Cheap Cars fell 4c or 5.06 per cent to 75c; and Accordant Group decreased 5c or 4.35 per cent to $1.10.

In the property sector, Stride increased 6c or 4.62 per cent to $1.36; Goodman Trust was up 4c or 2.03 per cent to $2.01; Precinct gained 3.5c or 3.26 per cent to $1.11; Property for Industry was down 4c or 1.86 per cent to $2.11; and Kiwi shed 2.5c or 3.13 per cent to 77.5c.

Tourism Holdings was down 11c or 3.28 per cent to $3.24; Smartpay declined 7c or 5.11 per cent to $1.20; and NZME decreased 3c or 3.49 per cent to 83c.

Retirement village operator Arvida Group, which restructured its bank debt facilities with an increased limit of $775m, declined 7c or 5.83 per cent to $1.13.

Rakon increased 5c or 7.69 per cent to 70c after launching its latest semiconductor chip Niku as it moves to strengthen its artificial intelligence (AI) portfolio. The chip will help drive AI workloads at data centres.

South Port New Zealand gained 5c to $7.30 after the port company lowered its full-year earnings guidance to about $9m compared with net profit of $11.71m for the 2023 financial year. Trade volumes were down 10 per cent for the first quarter compared with the same period last year.

Seafood company Sanford declined 9c or 2.34 per cent to $3.76 after telling the market it has completed the sale of its North Island inshore species quota to Moana New Zealand.