NZ shares rise; Air NZ climbs on falling oil while NZOG drops

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New Zealand shares rose, paced by Air New Zealand which gained on the prospect of cheap jet fuel on falling oil prices. New Zealand Oil & Gas fell on the weak oil prices, while OceanaGold Corp dropped on declining gold prices.

The NZX 50 Index rose 5.175 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5429.622. Within the index stocks were mixed, 20 rose, 24 fell and six were unchanged. Turnover was $94.6 million.

Across the Tasman Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 1.8 percent in afternoon trading as investors sold resource-based stocks in the face of falling iron ore and oil prices. Oil prices have declined some 37 percent this year, and have come under increasing pressure after last week the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided to hold supply, rather than restrict production in a bid to shore up prices.

Air NZ, the national carrier, gained 1.4 percent to a seven-year high $2.465 as cheaper oil translates to less expensive jet fuel, a significant input cost for the airline. NZ Oil & Gas, the listed energy explorer, dropped 6.4 percent to a decade-low of 59 cents.

"We're certainly faring better than Australia, which is under significant pressure because of the resource prices, and mainly oil," said Grant Williamson, director at Hamilton Hindin Greene. "With lower oil prices, companies like New Zealand Oil & Gas, which produce both oil and gas, wont be generating as much revenue from those. The flipside though, the oil companies might be going down but the airline stocks have certainly being going up, with oil being one of their major input costs."

Over the weekend, Switzerland voted in a referendum that would that would have required the Swiss National Bank to hold at least 20 percent of its assets in bullion. The spot price of gold has dropped 7.8 percent over the past month, and is trading near a three-year low.

OceanaGold was the worst performer on the benchmark index dropping 17 percent to $2.20.

"OceanaGold is an extremely volatile stock," Williamson said. "It does fluctuate very much in line with what is happening in that international gold price."

Heartland New Zealand, which operates the bank of the same name, led the benchmark index higher advancing 3.6 percent to $1.14.

Chorus, the regulated telecommunications infrastructure network operator and builder, climbed 3.6 to $2.14 ahead of the Commerce Commission's draft decision on the pricing of its copper lines, which the market will be watching closely, Williamson said. Last year the antitrust regulator moved to restrict how much the company could charge for the use of its copper lines, which Chorus says has left a $1 billion hole in funding for the roll out of the nation's ultrafast broadband network.

Spark New Zealand, formerly Telecom Corp, rose 2 percent to $3.12. Fletcher Building, the construction and building supplies company, increased 0.1 percent to $8.20. Ryman Healthcare declined 0.5 percent to $7.97.

Outside the benchmark index, Hellaby Holdings climbed 4.6 percent to $3.20 after the diversified investment firm lifted its dividend payout policy to 75 percent from 50 percent of profit after recording strong cash flow and being told by investors that they want more yield.

Finzsoft Solutions jumped 41 percent to a record close of $3.98 after the financial software developer reported a profitable first half of $2.02 million on Friday, and said its board is considering paying an interim dividend for the first time in four years.

Inventory Technologies, the healthcare technology developer, will join the NZX via a reverse listing using the shell of NZF Group, the listed financial services company blocked from liquidating earlier this year by its major noteholder. NZF last traded in December last year at 1 cent, valuing the firm at $1.1 million.

On the New Zealand Alternative Index, Enprise Group, the software firm, climbed 72 percent to 55 cents in its debut via a compliance listing on the small cap market.