Market close: Sharemarket struggling with good economic data

Photo / NZME

The New Zealand sharemarket had one of its lightest trading days of this eventful year, posting a small gain, as it waits for the next interest rate move.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index moved off an early morning low of 11,530.01 and finished ahead by 38.44 points or 0.33 per cent to 11,570.43.

There were only 18.85 million share transactions worth $68.8 million, with 79 gainers and 50 decliners across the whole market.

Dan Stratful, investment adviser with Forsyth Barr, said the market has seen some good economic data lately but that's what it is struggling with – good news leads to further interest rate rises.

"I'm not sure what the trend is, and it will only be good for the market when there is a clear indication that inflation is slowing," he said.

The US Federal Reserve is this week expected to hike its official target range another 75 basis points to 3-3.25 per cent.

Some investors are wary of a 1 per cent interest rate rise, while others are watching out for guidance on corporate earnings before the next reporting season begins next month.

KMD Brands (formerly Kathmandu), gaining 3c or 3 per cent to $1.03, provided the main interest for the local market by reporting a 40 per cent fall in net profit to $36.82m on record revenue of $979.8m, up 6.2 per cent, for the year ending July. The Kathmandu stores had their highest fourth-quarter sales.

KMD, which also owns Rip Curl and Oboz Footwear, is paying a final dividend of 3c a share on November 25. The retailer told the market that group sales in August were 44 per cent ahead of the same month last year and 10 per cent above pre-Covid levels in August 2019.

Stratful said the last financial year was very disruptive for KMD with production from the Vietnam factories affected by the Covid lockdowns. But the company provided a quite positive outlook for the current year and is continuing the sales momentum of the last second half. KMD should report a much-improved financial result in the current year.

Fellow retailers Briscoe Group was down 4c to $5.438, The Warehouse Group fell 13c or 3.67 per cent to $3.41; and Hallenstein Glasson declined 3c to $5.27.

Move Logistics gained 4c or 3.31 per cent to $1.25 after telling the market it is pulling out of the $11.2m deal to buy privately owned bulk transport firm Fluidex. Move said the vendors wanted to vary certain commercial terms of the transaction and this was not acceptable.

Spark, which went ex-dividend last week, recovered 13.5c or 2.68 per cent to $5.165 on trade worth $10.09m; Chorus increased 7c to $7.60; Auckland International Airport gained 8c to $7.74; Fletcher Building collected 10c or 1.9 per cent to $5.36; and a2 Milk climbed 17c or 2.76 per cent to $6.32.

The leading banks ANZ increased 38c to $26.90, and Westpac was up 45c or 1.85 per cent to $24.75. In the energy sector, Mercury increased 7c to $6.07, and Meridian was down 4c to $5.08.

In the port sector, Marsden Maritime Holdings was up 7c to $6.35; Port of Tauranga gained 3c to $6.55; and Napier Port was down 9c or 2.96 per cent to $2.95.

The retirement village sector was mixed. Summerset Group increased 4c to $10.89; Ryman Healthcare was down 12c to $8.93; Arvida decreased 4c or 2.7 per cent to $1.44; and Oceania Healthcare declined 2c or 2.13 per cent to 92c.

The country's biggest kiwifruit grower Seeka was up 15c or 3.86 per cent to $4.04.

Other gainers were Vulcan Steel, which went ex-dividend, rising 14.5c or 1.81 per cent to $8.17; Gentrack picking up 7c or 5.11 per cent to $1.44; Third Age Health improving 7c or 3.48 per cent to $2.08; and NZ King Salmon Investments increasing 1c or 4.55 per cent to 23c.

Freightways, down 22c or 2.08 per cent to $10.35, and Mainfreight, declining 50c to $71, continued to feel the impact – or shock in some US investors' minds – of the earnings downgrade by global transport company FedEx.

Property company Stride was down 5c or 2.75 per cent to $1.77, and Investore declined 3c or 1.86 per cent to $1.58.

Sky TV shed 7c or 3.07 per cent to $2.21; AFT Pharmaceuticals fell 13c or 3.74 per cent to $3.35; T&G Global was down 7c or 2.59 per cent to $2.63; Rakon declined 6c or 4.72 per cent to $1.21; Foley Wines shed 3c or 2.11 per cent to $1.39; and Plexure Group fell 3c or 7.5 per cent to 37c.