NZ stocks weaken for third day in a row, Hallenstein shines

Hallenstein Glasson was the standout peformer in a weakening sharemarket. Photo / Herald.

The New Zealand sharemarket fell for the third day running but brokers remain confident about further gains.

Retailer Hallenstein Glasson stood out on the back of strong consumer spending.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index drifted on steady trading, closing down 63.41 points or 0.48 per cent to 13,120.28 after reaching an intraday high of 13224.95.

The index has fallen more than 3 per cent in three days.

There were 57 gainers and 86 decliners over the whole market on volume of 57.6 million share transactions worth $187.77m.

Dan Stratful, investment adviser with Forsyth Barr, said the market was taking a breather after the heavy buying and heady price rises of Contact and Meridian.

"There is still optimism out there," he said.

"The consensus is the momentum of late last year will continue and that the first half of this year will be better than the second half when it flattens out.

"Low interest rates are the continuing story for the market, but if US Treasury yields keep ticking higher, then they threaten to be a headwind."

The energy stocks had a quiet day, but Hallenstein Glasson rose 13c or 1.91 per cent to $6.93.

"Hallenstein is a well run, well managed company with a good balance sheet and it pays
massive dividends," said Stratful.

"The retail sector is not as badly off as feared. The Warehouse recently reported a profit upgrade, and people can't travel, so they are spending their money on property and retail. The small one-man bands are struggling but the big retailers will have an okay year."

The Warehouse has had a strong run lately and it slipped 1c to $3.05.

Kathmandu was up 2c or 1.56 per cent to $1.30, and Briscoe Group was down 7c to $5.30, after also having a good run-up.

SmartPay Holdings, which supplies Eftpos machines to the retail sector, climbed 2.5c or 3.27 per cent to 79c.

Meridian Energy was down 29.5c or 3.6 per cent to $7.895, Contact lost 4c to $9.95, and Mercury gained 30c or 4.29 per cent to $7.30. Trustpower was also up 12c to $8.42.

Mainfreight continued its slide from a high of $69.89 on December 30, falling another $1 or 1.5 per cent to $65.80.

Other leading stocks made gains. Ebos Group gained 30c to $29; Port of Tauranga rose 7c to $7.59; Freightways moved ahead 17c or 1.76 per cent to $10.47; and Fletcher Building continued its steady climb, passing $6 with a rise of 5c to $6.02.

Auckland International Airport was down 10c to $7.55; a2 Milk lost 17c to $11.24; Pushpay Holdings decreased 6c or 3.66 per cent $1.58; Synlait Milk declined 10c or 2.04 per cent to $4.81; and Serko was also down 10c or 1.75 per cent to $5.60.

Ryman Healthcare had a topsy-turvy day, reaching $15.50 during the day before closing at $15.05, down 4c. Fellow retirement village operator Summerset Group Holdings fell 15c to $12.35.

Tourism Holdings, badly hit by the Covid pandemic, continues to suffer, falling 5c or 2 per cent to $2.45. And another in the same category, Vista Group, declined 4c or 2.52 per cent to $1.55.

After a rise the day before, AMP fell 6c or 3.41 per cent to $1.70, while apple exporter Scales Corporation gained 8c or 1.64 per cent to $4.97 in the height of its harvesting season.

Wall Street was steady overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average edging ahead 0.19 per cent to 31,068.69, the S&P 500 Index up 0.042 per cent to 3801.19 and the Nasdaq Composite gaining 0.28 per cent to 13,072.43.

But leading technology stocks continued to slide. Twitter and Facebook, two social media platforms that have blocked President Donald Trump, fell more than 2 per cent.

Twitter was down 2.35 per cent to US$47.4 (NZ$65), Facebook fell 2.24 per cent to US$251.09 ($347.13), Alphabet/Google declined 1.07 per cent to US$1737.43 ($2402), and Microsoft shed 1.18 per cent to US$214.93 ($297.14).