New Zealand shares edge up on light volumes - Market close

Hallenstein Glasson added 1.1 per cent to sit at $5.49.

New Zealand shares lifted 0.9 per cent over the course of the week after a quiet day that mirrored offshore moves.

Today, the S&P/NZX 50 Index closed at 11,858.31, up 55.29 points or 0.47 per cent.

There were 69 gainers and 61 decliners over the whole market with 17.25 million share transactions worth $49.5 million.

The market closed at 11,748.48 last Friday.

“There’s not a lot of movement anywhere, with markets just coasting into the end of the week,” said Grant Davies, investment adviser with Hamilton Hindin Greene.

Volumes were light on the local bourse but “maybe as more people return from their holidays next week, we must start to see a bit more volume and maybe some direction”, he said.

After a weak start, Wall Street was largely flat after the latest US inflation data came in stronger than expected, shedding doubt on a possible March rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.

The S&P 500 ended down 0.07 per cent at 4,780.24 points, while the Nasdaq Composite was flat at 14,970.18. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.04 per cent to 37,711.02.

US headline December CPI rose 0.3 per cent month-on-month, 0.1 per cent higher than expected and up 3.4 per cent year-on-year.

The US Federal Reserve’s federal open market committee will meet at the end of January and minutes of their December meeting indicated cuts were likely this year, although the path was uncertain.

According to ANZ Bank, the market is still pricing in a 64 per cent chance of a March rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

However, “the market is well ahead of itself, pricing a high likelihood of a Fed cut” by that time, it said.

Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 0.1per cent at 7,494.30 at 5pm NZ time.

In New Zealand, Summerset was once again one of the strongest performers, adding 1.2 per cent to $11.18 after it reported record sales in the December quarter earlier this week.

“It’s been tracking up nicely on the back of that,” said Davies.

Ryman Healthcare, meanwhile, shed 0.9 per cent to $5.83 and was the second-most-traded stock on the day with 1,595,375 shares changing hands.

It was only outstripped by Geo, which fell 8.33 per cent to $0.011 with 4,482,533 shares trading hands.

Earlier this week the company said it will hold a shareholder meeting on January 23 and seek approval to remove itself from the NZX.

Retailers were mixed as KMD Brands fell 1.33 per cent to 74 cents, Briscoe Group was unchanged at $4.65, Warehouse Group added 2.55 per cent to $1.61, Michael Hill International was unchanged at 96 cents and Hallenstein Glasson added 1.1 per cent to $5.49.

Stats NZ will publish electronic card transaction data next Wednesday, which will shed some light on how retailers fared over the Christmas season. Davies said retailers themselves may publish market updates, which could help set the tone.

Meanwhile, next Thursday the Real Estate Institute of NZ will publish house price data for December, which may set direction for Fletcher Building.

On Friday, Fletcher Building was unchanged at $4.85. Steel and Tube added 4.6 per cent to $1.15.

Investors will also be watching out for next week’s Global Dairy Trade auction. The GDT index lifted 1.2 per cent at the prior auction, to an average price of US$3363 a tonne (MT).

Synlait Milk was unchanged today at 94 cents, A2 milk added 0.5 per cent to $4.460 while the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund unit advanced 2.4 per cent to $3.42.

News that Kotahi, New Zealand’s largest shipping group, says exporters face a shipping surcharge of US$1000 ($1600) per container because of disruption at the critical Suez and Panama canals, may weigh on the dairy exporters.