Market close: S&P/NZX 50 surges to biggest single-day gain this year

US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell held interest rates at present levels for the second straight time. Photo / AP

The blue-chip stocks picked up a head of steam as the New Zealand sharemarket recorded its biggest single-day rise in nearly a year with a surge of more than 1.7 per cent.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index had another strong afternoon, after reaching a morning low of 10,850.92, and closed at 11,044.44, increasing 193.52 points or 1.78 per cent.

The previous biggest single-day gain was 1.98 per cent on November 11 last year. The index has now risen 2.80 per cent over the past three trading days.

There were 94 gainers and 36 decliners over the whole market on volumes of 30.25 million share transactions worth $86.86 million.

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said “there was a lot of green on the screen and we haven’t seen that for a long time”.

“The pricing of the New Zealand market has gone back to better levels in terms of valuation over the past few months, and it feels like some people are allocating capital back into the market,” Solly said.

“Certainly, a positive tone is emerging and we may have seen the peak in long-term interest rates, with bond yields continuing to ease.”

The NZX followed another strong day on Wall Street after the US Federal Reserve held interest rates at present levels for the second straight time. The Fed funds rate remains in the range of 5.25-5.5 per cent, albeit at a 22-year high, and chairman Jerome Powell said monetary policy was sufficiently restrictive.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.67 per cent to 33,274.58 points; the S&P 500 increased 1.05 per cent to 4237.86; and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.64 per cent to 13,061.47.

Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had risen 0.86 per cent to 6896.9 points at 6pm NZ time.

At home, Mainfreight continued its strong recovery, rising $1.75 or 3 per cent to $60.10; Ebos Group was up $1.13 or 3.16 per cent to $36.90; Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gained 40c or 1.9 per cent to $21.50; and Spark added 45c to $5.07.

Chorus rose 30c or 4.23 per cent to $7.39; Auckland International Airport was up 23c or 3.09 per cent to $7.68; Fletcher Building gained 8c or 1.85 per cent to $4.40; and a2 Milk increased 7c to $4.27.

Among energy stocks, Meridian was up 8c to $4.97; Mercury surged 31.5c or 5.55 per cent to $5.99; Genesis added 6.5c or 2.81 per cent to $2.375; and Contact gained 4c to $7.91.

Leading banks ANZ Group gained 59c or 2.17 per cent to $27.79, and Westpac collected 57c or 2.52 per cent to $23.23.

The property sector also recovered. Vital Healthcare Trust increased 5c or 2.56 per cent to $2; Argosy was up 2.5c or 2.38 per cent to $1.075; Investore rose 5c or 4.27 per cent to $1.22; Kiwi gained 2.5c or 3.25 per cent to 79.5c; and Precinct added 2.5c or 2.26 per cent to $1.13.

Briscoe Group gained 2c to $4.49 after reporting a 2.37 per cent increase in third-quarter sales to $179.7m, with homeware gaining 1.32 per cent to $109.1m and sporting goods 4.05 per cent to $70.6m. However, Briscoe remained cautiously optimistic heading into the crucial final quarter. Total sales for the 39 weeks ending October 29 were $548.9m, up 1 per cent.

Other gainers were Channel Infrastructure up 4c or 2.8 per cent to $1.45; Tourism Holdings adding 8c or 2.45 per cent to $3.35; and PaySauce up 1.7c or 9.29 per cent to 20c.

Transport and logistics software firm TradeWindow declined 2c or 7.55 per cent to 24.5c after announcing another restructure involving 80 staff and full-year revenue guidance of $6m-$6.5m, down from the previous $7m-$8m.

Other decliners were Restaurant Brands decreasing 18c or 4.7 per cent to $3.65; Allied Farmers shedding 4c or 5 per cent to 76c; and 2 Cheap Cars down 5c or 6.67 per cent to 70c.