New Zealand sharemarket in holiday mode as tech stocks roar in the US

Nvidia gained a further 3.43% to US$149.43 on the tech-focused Nasdaq. Photo / Hapabapa, Getty Images

The New Zealand sharemarket drifted on quiet trading despite a rally offshore, especially amongst the technology stocks in the United States.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index ranged between 13,000.97 and 13,087.9 before closing at 13,042.06, down 30.87 points or 0.24%.

The market still has the holiday feeling with 22.5 million shares worth $111.65 million changing hands.

Jeremy Sullivan, investment adviser with Hamilton Hindin Greene, said “the foot is still off the gas and we should resume normal business next week”.

He said there was some rhetoric that the tariffs imposed by Donald Trump would not be as high as expected, and if that was the case it would help the likes of a2 Milk which are exposed to China.

In the United States, the technology-driven Nasdaq Composite increased 1.24% to 19,864.98 points and has risen 3% in two trading days. Nvidia gained a further 3.43% to US$149.43.

The S&P 500 Index was up 0.55% to 5975.38 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 42,706.56.

Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had gained 0.26% to 8278.9 points at 6pm NZ time.

At home, market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 15c to $38.03; Spark declined 4c to $2.90; Infratil decreased 19c to $12.05; and The Warehouse eased 2c or 1.9% to $1.03.

In the energy sector, Meridian declined 18c or 3% to $5.82; Vector was down 10c or 2.49% to $3.94; Genesis decreased 7c or 3.08% to $2.20; while Mercury was up 6c to $5.72 on trade worth $13.04m; and Contact gained 8c to $9.70 on trade worth $15.26m.

Gentrack was up 24c or 1.93% to $12.69; a2 Milk added 3c to $6.21; Freightways collected 9c to $10.72; Ebos Group increased 38c to $37.48; and Auckland International Airport gained 5.5c to $8.79 on trade worth $14.15m.

Summerset Group, shedding 5c to $12.90, reported 361 sales for the quarter ending December, comprising 169 new sales and 192 resales. The total was similar to the same period in 2023 but resales were a record for a quarter.

The retirement village operator also had its highest full-year result with 1238 settlements, a 12% increase compared with 2023. Summerset opened the first stage of the St Johns village in Auckland and 25% of the units so far completed are under contract.

Third Age Health declined 10c or 3.88% to $2.48; NZME was down 3c or 2.75% to $1.06; CDL Investments fell 5c or 6.25% to 75c; Allied Farmers decreased 3c or 3.8% to 76c; Accordant Group shed 2c or 4% to 48c; ikeGPS gave up 2c or 3.45% to 56c; and Blackpearl Group was down 3c or 2.73% to $1.07.

Restaurant Brands increased 9c or 2.2% to $4.18; Michael Hill was up 2c or 3.17% to 65c; Investore gained 2c or 1.77% to $1.15; Vista added 5c to $3.20; and Pacific Edge improved 0.003c or 2.31% to 13.3c.

T&G Global gained 7c or 4.9% to $1.50; Scales Corp was up 8c or 2.07% to $3.95; Eroad rose 7c or 6.8% to $1.10; Promisia Healthcare increased 1.5c or 4.69% to 33.5c; and My Food Bag picked up 0.005c or 2.38% to 21.5c.

The latest NZX statistics showed a strong increase in trading in December. Total equity trades increased 64.1% to 869,562, the value traded rose 208% to $5.79 billion, and the average on-market size was $2699, up 7.7%.

For the year, the number of trades was up 2.4% to 9.25m and total value increased 22.9% to $41.54b. The percentage of value on-market was 60.3%, down 2%.

The total capital listed and raised was $736m in December and $15.825b for the year. The total external funds under management in December totalled $13.464b, up 22.6%. NZX’s share price was down 1c to $1.48.

Sullivan said some solid numbers are being put down by NZX – it’s good reading from their perspective.

Serko, unchanged at $3.90, has completed the purchase of Sabre Corporation’s business travel management tool, GetThere. Serko has now begun a long-term partnership with Texas-based Sabre, a leading software and technology provider for the global travel industry.