Airport, Ryman up as bargain hunters scoop up stock

Auckland International Airport led the index, up 3.3 per cent to $6.25. Photo / Brett Phibbs

New Zealand shares rose as buyers came back into the market, led upwards by Auckland International Airport and Ryman Healthcare while Kathmandu Holdings dropped.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index gained 43.19 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 6857.85. Within the index, 25 stocks rose, 16 fell and 10 were unchanged. Turnover was $212.8 million.

"We are starting to see some retail bargain hunters coming into the market. I've noticed that with my own client base, investors are thinking that the Trump effect has slowed and things have settled down to some degree despite the earthquake and are keen to come from the buy side again," said Grant Williamson, director at Hamilton Hindin Greene.

Auckland International Airport led the index, up 3.3 per cent to $6.25. Williamson said it was a volatile stock which had been sold down early in the week amid concerns about tourism in New Zealand following Monday's early morning 7.8 magnitude earthquake near Kaikoura, but has since more than regained what it lost.

"The market had lost almost 10 per cent at one stage and is regaining some of that lost ground quite nicely this week," Williamson said. "We're up 1.75 per cent for the week, the first positive week in the last seven, so a nice turnaround this week - given the events of the weekend, you really wouldn't have thought that, but investors have taken that earthquake in their stride."

Argosy Property rose 2.9 per cent to $1.05, Mercury gained 2.4 per cent to $3.035 and Vector advanced 1.9 per cent to $3.18.

Ryman Healthcare improved 1.9 per cent to $8.59. New Zealand's largest retirement village operator lifted first-half earnings and said it expects to report another record profit for the full year, as it inked higher sales and continues to expand.

Kathmandu Holdings was the worst performer on the index, down 4.8 per cent to $1.79. The retailer expects first-half profit to be in line with last year's, which was $9.4 million, as it struggles to grow sales and maintain margins. Its first-quarter sales fell 0.6 per cent, the company said.

"The market reaction tells the story. It looked like the stock was starting to recover after a pretty difficult time throughout 2015 and the first half of 16. We were experiencing a nice improvement, but it's certainly turned back down again," Williamson said.

Comvita dropped 3.7 per cent to $9 and Tilt Renewables fell 2.4 per cent to $2. Outside the benchmark index, Seadragon dropped 11 per cent to 0.8c. The fish oil refiner more than quadrupled its first-half loss to $3.4 million.