New Zealand shares fell as investors made room in their portfolios ahead of the government's Genesis Energy initial public offer next month. Property stocks paced the fall as rising interest rates made the sector's yield less attractive.
The NZX 50 Index fell 5.807 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5124.888. Within
the index 24 stocks fell, 18 rose and eight were unchanged. Turnover was $137.3 million.
Investors sold shares to make room in their portfolios for the next partial privatisation, of which 40 percent has been set aside for institutional investors and local broking firms. The government today said it will sell the maximum 49 per cent of Genesis Energy after feedback from institutions gave it confidence it didn't need to reduce the size of the sell-down.
"There is a little bit of weakness in the market today and it comes from investors raising funds for Genesis, but they're certainly not doing it from energy stocks, if anything those are going the other way," said James Smalley, a director at Hamilton Hindin Greene. "The recent IPO stocks, MightyRiver and Meridian, have come in for the buying because perhaps investors or institutions were a little bit underweight in those stocks pending Genesis."
Energy stocks rose, with Meridian Energy leading gainers, up 2.2 percent to a record $1.14. MightyRiverPower climbed 1.6 percent to $2.18, while lines company Vector rose 0.4 percent to $2.42, and Contact Energy declined 1.1 percent to $5.23.
