Stocks edge up as Aussies sniff around

Trustpower was the best performer yesterday, up 3 per cent to $5.24. Photo / Supplied

New Zealand shares edged up, with international index changes boosting turnover. Trustpower, Xero and Argosy Property gained.

The S&P/NZX50 Index rose 6.95 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 7418.9. Within the index, 31 stocks rose, 11 fell and eight were unchanged. Turnover was $270 million.

David Price, director of institutional equities at Forsyth Barr, said volumes had been pumped up by changes to MSCI indices but generally volumes had been weak, and the index was looking flat on the day without a great deal of news to drive it forward.

"Australian ownership in the market is running at an all-time high," Price said. "The Aussies continue to buy our market, they like it - they see the economics and if you look at how their market has performed, for the month to date they're down 4.5 per cent and we just continue to whirr on. They tend to buy the bigger stuff - [Fisher & Paykel] Healthcare and A2 being popular, and it's no coincidence those two have performed pretty well."

F&P Healthcare gained 0.3 per cent to $10.70 and A2 gained 0.3 per cent to $3.38.

Trustpower was the best performer, up 3 per cent to $5.24, while Xero rose 2.3 per cent to $25 and Argosy Property gained 2 per cent to $1.03.

Metlifecare dipped 0.5 per cent to $5.49. The company has named Richard Thomson, Air New Zealand's general manager commercial, as chief financial officer starting in mid-September.

Ryman Healthcare was the worst performer, down 1.4 per cent to $8.33, while Fletcher Building dropped 1.2 per cent to $7.56, with about $32m of stock trading. Auckland International Airport fell 0.6 per cent to $6.99, with $21m of shares traded. Sky City Entertainment Group declined 0.9 per cent to $4.38.

Outside the benchmark index, NPT dropped 0.8 per cent to 60.5c. The listed property investor posted a 63 per cent drop in annual profit to $3.1m, included a $1.7m reduction in the value of the company's property portfolio. It also faced extra costs from a proposed deal with Kiwi Property Group that did not proceed.

The new board is undertaking a thorough analysis of the business plan for the current financial year and expects to update shareholders by the annual meeting in August, it said.

Oceania Natural was unchanged at $1.40. The food supplements maker turned to a $1m loss with sales down 27 per cent to $2.4m in the year to March 31.

Oceania said the year had been focused on investing in the business and the loss was in line with management expectations.

- BusinessDesk