Market close: NZ shares shaking off nasty January falls

The New Zealand sharemarket gained almost 1 per cent. Photo / NZME

The New Zealand sharemarket continued to shake off the nasty falls last month with a further 1 per cent gain – and investors are positioning ahead of the latest reporting season, which starts in earnest next week.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index had a strong afternoon trading session, closing at 12,433.95, up 114.6 points or 0.93 per cent, after reaching an intraday low of 12,297.8. The index has now risen 4.5 per cent so far this month after falling 9 per cent in January.

There were 92 gainers and 47 decliners across the whole market, and volumes were steady, with 36.63 million shares worth $147.63 million changing hands.

Mark Lister, head of private wealth research with Craigs Investment Partners, said the local market was following offshore leads, and Wall Street had another strong night.

"Maybe there's a bit of a bounce after stocks were aggressively sold down in a difficult January. There seems to be some [buying] positioning taking place ahead of the reporting season, which is expected to be solid but not stunning," he said.

"We haven't really seen any profit warnings ahead of the season, and this is good. The market can re-focus on company earnings and the progress they are making."

Lister said it would certainly be a distraction from the rising inflation and higher interest rates.

"They will still be a dominant theme through the year, but the markets are on a more stable footing for the time being."

The latest United States inflation figure will be released later this week and is expected to go higher. The New Zealand Reserve Bank is meeting later this month and is certain to increase the official cash rate from 0.75 per cent.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.06 per cent to 35,462.78 points; S&P 500 increased 0.84 per cent to 4521.54; and Nasdaq Composite rose 1.28 per cent to 14,194.46. The S&P/ASX 200 Index had risen 0.82 per cent to 7245.3 points at 5.45 pm NZ time.

There was some relief with the price of US crude oil falling 1.9 per cent to under US$90 a barrel after hitting US$93 last week.

At home, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare gained 45c to $30.39; Fletcher Building collected 11c to $6.50; Contact Energy rose 15c or 1.85 per cent to $8.24; a2 Milk was up 13c or 2.28 per cent to $5.83; and Auckland International Airport increased 13c to $7.53 on trade worth $26.88m.

Freightways gained 13c to $12.40; Restaurant Brands rose 38c or 2.6 per cent to $15; and Chorus was up 12.5c or 1.82 to $6.98.

Retirement village operators Summerset Group Holdings rose 30c or 2.48 per cent to $12.40, and Ryman Healthcare was up 21c or 2.15 per cent to $10 on trade worth $16.96m, the day's second highest.

Utilities investor Infratil was up 13c to $7.99 after telling the market it has now contributed NZ$244.64m of capital to London data centre business Kao Data and increased its shareholding to 40 per cent, from a previous 20 per cent.

Transtasman chemicals company DGL Group surged 32c or 10.85 per cent to $3.27 after producing a strong half-year of growth. Revenue for the six months ended December rose 182 per cent to A$143m ($153.86m) compared with the previous corresponding period; operating earnings (ebitda) was up 139 per cent to A$23m; and net profit increased 187 per cent to A$9m.

Among other gainers, Sky Network Television rose 14c or 5.49 per cent to $2.69; Serko was up 15c or 2.8 per cent to $5.50; Ventia Services Group increased 12c or 5.26 per cent to $2.40; and Hallenstein Glasson picked up 9c to $6.50.

Accordant Group rose 7c or 3.89 per cent to $1.87; Vista Group was up 6c or 2.8 per cent to $2.20; and Marlin fund increased 4c or 2.99 per cent to $1.38.

Pushpay Holdings was down 3c or 2.7 per cent to $1.08 after its shares became involved in an insider trading allegation. The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has filed legal proceedings against two people concerning trading in shares in 2018.

Pushpay said its conduct has not been the subject of the investigation and it is not a party to any FMA proceedings. The two people have been granted interim name suppression until the first court appearance.

Other decliners were Air New Zealand decreasing 3c or 1.8 per cent to $1.635; Steel & Tube down 4c or 2.56 per cent to $1.52, and new listing Winton Land falling 10c or 2.94 per cent to $3.30.

Rakon made an investor presentation, saying its goal is to be a world leader in the development of timing and frequency control solutions for the most challenging specifications and environments. Rakon's share price increased 4c to $1.86.