NZ shares extend gain on low-rate tailwind; Vista at record

Vista led the market higher, up 5.2 per cent at $5.50. Photo / 123RF

New Zealand shares rose for a third day as the Reserve Bank's rate cut provides another tailwind to the stock market. Vista Group International hit a record.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 41.3 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 10,104.35. Within the index, 24 stocks gained, 15 fell and 11 were unchanged. Turnover was $202.8 million.

The local market outperformed the rest of the Asia-Pacific region, with Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index and Thailand's SET Index the only other bourses in positive territory today. The central bank's cut to the official cash rate yesterday spurred investors to buy stocks, where they can achieve higher returns than fixed income assets.

"Yesterday we saw an intra-day swing in the market after a poor start and that's continued into today," said Grant Davies, an investment advisor at Hamilton Hindin Greene.

"We've got funds falling off the bond maturities coming up, KiwiSaver balances that keep going up, so the rate cut is just another tailwind out there for the market."

The rate cut pushed the kiwi dollar below 66 US cents for the first time since October, boosting the value of local firms' export receipts.

Vista, which derives most of its revenue overseas, led the market higher, up 5.2 per cent at $5.50 on a volume of 2.4 million shares, more than eight-times its 90-day average.

Pushpay Holdings was the most traded stock on a volume of 5.7 million shares, more than 10 times its 398,000 average. The shares rose 1.6 per cent to $3.77, recovering some of yesterday's decline when it reported an annual profit and said its founder Chris Heaslip was stepping down as chief executive.

Auckland International Airport rose 3.1 per cent to $8.25 on a volume of 4.3 million shares, almost four-times normal. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare increased 2.4 per cent to $15.99 on 1.1 million shares, almost twice its usual volume, and Tourism Holdings advanced 2.3 per cent to $4.04 on a smaller volume than usual of 93,000.

Spark rose 0.6 per cent to $3.645 on a volume of 4.7 million shares, while Kiwi Property Group was unchanged at $1.535 on a volume of 2.9 million shares. Meridian Energy increased 0.8 per cent to $4.28 on a volume of 2.3 million shares.

Of other companies trading on volumes of more than a million shares, Contact Energy rose 1.3 per cent to $7.23, Mercury NZ increased 0.3 per cent to $3.94, and Goodman Property Trust decreased 0.3 per cent to $1.73.

Fletcher Building posted the biggest decline, down 4 per cent at $5.06 on a volume of 1.1 million shares, in line with its 90-day average. A2 Milk Co slipped 1.5 per cent to $16.07 with 475,000 shares changing hands, less than its 801,000 average.

Outside the benchmark index, PGG Wrightson fell 3.6 per cent to 54 cents after announcing plans to return $235m, or 31 cents per share, to investors in a buyback after selling its seeds division. Chief executive Ian Glasson announced his departure at the end of the month, and the company warned annual earnings from the remaining businesses will be at the lower end of guidance.

Davies said the profit warning weighed on the stock, and investors will be interested to see how the slimmed down business operates.

Tilt Renewables, which is controlled by Infratil and Mercury, declined 0.4 per cent to $2.35 after annual profit was in line with expectations. The board decided to retain earnings for future projects rather than pay a dividend this half.

Infratil rose 1.1 per cent to $4.60.

Chorus's 2028 bonds paying 4.35 per cent annual interest were the most traded debt security with 1.9 million notes changing hands. The yield was down 1 basis point at 3.54 per cent. Chorus shares rose 1.5 per cent to $6.23.

Meridian's 2023 bonds paying 4.53 per cent, traded at a yield of 2.68 per cent, down 9 basis points on a volume of 1.1 million notes. That's the lowest yield since it listed in March 2016.