NZ sharemarket peters out in quiet start to the year

Trading was quiet on the local sharemarket with many investors on holiday. Photo / Getty Images

The New Zealand sharemarket ended its first abbreviated week of trading on a down note as the summer holidays kept trading thin.

The benchmark S&P/NZX 50 Index ended the three-day week down 0.2 per cent as it fell 10.63 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 11,748.48. Across the main board, 50 stocks fell and 71 rose, with 19.1 million shares changing hands on a turnover of $53.4 million.

“The market’s driving in a fairly subdued start to the new year after a pretty blistering end in the last couple of months,” said Greg Smith, head of retail at Devon Funds Management.

“Volumes are still pretty low this week but will probably pick up next week as they normally do.”

Cinema software company Vista Group International accounted for the day’s biggest volume with 2.9 million shares changing hands, almost all in a single trade at $1.60. That was a discount to the $1.66 market price, and the stock rose 0.6 per cent to $1.67.

Vista was one of just three companies to trade on volumes of more than 1 million shares, with Air NZ another as it rose 0.8 per cent to 65 cents with 1.3 million shares changing hands, and Goodman Property Trust falling 1.3 per cent to $2.23 with 1.2 million units traded.

Tech stocks have been under pressure globally with the Nasdaq Composite falling for a fifth session on Thursday in the United States, its longest losing stream since October 2022 as investors ponder when the US Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates ahead of an upcoming jobs report.

Locally, tech stocks were mixed. Eroad advanced 1 per cent to 99 cents, Gentrack fell 2 per cent to $6.48, PaySauce declined 2.1 per cent to 23.5 cents, Rakon was unchanged at $1.25, Scott Technology slipped 1.5 per cent to $3.40, and Serko fell 0.5 per cent to $4.03.

Kathmandu retail chain operator KMD Holdings led the benchmark index lower, falling 2.6 per cent to 75 cents, while fellow retailer Briscoe Group declined 1.9 per cent to $4.56, clothing chain Hallenstein Glasson dropped 0.6 per cent to $5.26, fast-food operator Restaurant Brands was unchanged at $3.85 and The Warehouse Group was also unchanged at $1.57.

Dairy companies were generally stronger with Synlait Milk among the strongest performers on the day, up 3.2 per cent to 97 cents. The processor has been beaten up in recent months over its dispute with customer a2 Milk, which was unchanged at $4.41. Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund units rose 0.6 per cent to $3.49.

Scales rose 0.4 per cent to $3.42 after an adjustment for shedding rights to its 4.25 cents per share interim dividend, to be paid on January 18. Among other primary sector-linked companies, Delegat Group rose 3.9 per cent to $6.90, NZ King Salmon Investments increased 2 per cent to 25 cents, Sanford rose 1 per cent to $4.14, and PGG Wrightson was unchanged at $3.37.

NZX was unchanged at $1.07 after releasing its December monthly operating update, showing another decline in the volume and value of equities trading. Through the course of 2023, the number of trades fell 22.6 per cent to 9 million while the value of trading shrank 9.7 per cent to $33.8 billion.

Australia’s ASX monthly update showed the number of trades fell 9 per cent to 181.6 million in 2023, with a 10 per cent decline in the value traded at A$659.92b.

Among blue-chip stocks, Auckland International Airport was unchanged at $8.40, ANZ Group rose 0.6 per cent to $27.58, Contact Energy advanced 0.4 per cent to $8.04, Fletcher Building increased 0.2 per cent to $4.82, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare declined 0.5 per cent to $23.88, Meridian Energy fell 0.6 per cent to $5.555, Mainfreight edged up 0.1 per cent to $69.85, Port of Tauranga climbed 0.4 per cent to $5.52, and Spark rose 0.3 per cent to $5.155.