Vista recovers in heavy day of trading

Vista led the market higher as it recovered from a seven-month low. Photo / 123RF

New Zealand shares rose in heavy trading, led by Vista Group International which recovered some of yesterday's sharp sell-off.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index climbed 177.13 points, or 1.7 per cent, to 10,757.20. Within the index, 37 stocks rose, three fell, and 10 were unchanged. Turnover was $224.3 million with many stocks trading over a million shares including Sky Network Television, Vista, Spark New Zealand, Goodman Property Group and Infratil.

Stocks across Asia followed Wall Street higher with investors more upbeat when Chinese authorities took a more conciliatory stance to US President Donald Trump's latest round of import tariffs. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.6 per cent in afternoon trading, South Korea's Kospi 200 Index rose 1.8 per cent, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 1.4 per cent.

"Volatility is going to continue, but as we run into the US election we think Trump is going to calm himself down, in particular, his rhetoric around trade," said Peter McIntyre, an investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners.

"As soon as that gets resolved then that's going to solve one problem, but we still have Brexit and a slowing European economy."

Vista led the market higher as it recovered from a seven-month low, rising 4.9 per cent to $4.04 on a volume of 4.7 million shares, about 14 times its 90-day average of 336,000. The stock slumped 29 per cent yesterday when it trimmed its outlook for revenue growth.

The cinema software firm had scaled back revenue projections to 10-12 per cent, having lifted revenue in the past five years by more than 20 per cent each year. "Investors are probably looking to buy what has been a good value asset," McIntyre said.

Sky TV was the volume leader as 5.4 million shares changed hands. The share price was unchanged at $1.10.

"They've given a pretty clear signal to the market that they'll reinvest in new technology," McIntyre said.

Chorus rose 0.7 per cent to $5.04 on an unusually large volume of 4.7 million shares and Spark was up 1.1 per cent at $4.42 on a volume of 3.6 million. A2 Milk rose 3.1 per cent to $14.45 on a volume of 1.2 million shares.

Of other stocks trading on volumes of more than a million shares, Precinct Properties New Zealand increased 0.8 per cent to $1.866, Kiwi Property Group rose 1.2 per cent to $1.63, Auckland International Airport was up 1.7 per cent at $9.62, Infratil was unchanged at $4.55, Goodman Property rose 1.2 per cent to $2.18, Argosy Property advanced 1.4 per cent to $1.465, and Skellerup was unchanged at $2.23.

McIntyre noted that exporters were benefiting from the currency at four-year lows. Scales Corp rose 3 per cent to $4.75 on a volume of 443,000, more than four times its 95,000 average, while Fonterra Shareholders Fund units were up 2.5 at $3.31.

Fletcher Building rose 2.8 per cent to $4.44 on a volume of 1.6 million shares, as resource consents data supported the construction sector. Stats NZ said new residential building permits remain at 45 year-highs and economists are picking more activity off cheaper finance in the low-interest-rate environment.

Retirement operators Summerset Group and Ryman Healthcare also gained, with shares of Summerset rising by 3.8 per cent to $6.04 and Ryman lifting by 3.8 per cent to $13.02.

With the domestic reporting season drawing to a close, McIntyre said "it was okay without being outstanding."

"Gentailers are benefiting from better wholesale market prices although some companies like Freightways are seeing pressure around margins."

Genesis Energy rose 2.5 per cent to $3.44 on a volume of 1.6 million shares, Meridian Energy was up 2.1 per cent at $4.98 on a volume of 2.1 million, Mercury NZ increased 1.3 per cent to $5.185, and Contact Energy advanced 1.1 per cent to $8.38 on a volume of 1.1 million. Freightways increased 0.8 per cent to $7.97.

Arvida Group posted the day's biggest decline, down 0.7 per cent at $1.34 on a volume of 822,000, more than its 601,000 average.