NZX cash trading climbs 14pc in September, debt listings up by $1 billion

Cash trading on the NZX increased last month continuing August's upward trend.

Cash trading on the NZX increased last month continuing August's upward trend, as the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index reached new records in September and new debt listings remained attractive in a low interest rate environment.

The volume of cash market trading rose 14 per cent to 152,264 last month from the same month a year earlier, NZX's monthly shareholder metrics show. The value of trading gained 8 per cent to $3.8 billion from September 2015, while the daily average value traded was also up 8 per cent to $175 million.

The volume of equity transactions in September increased 15 per cent to 149,243 and the value of those trades rose 8.8 per cent to $3.7b, while the volume of debt transactions rose 2.9 per cent to 3,003 but the value traded dropped 8.7 per cent to $133m.

NZX's debt market has a renewed vigor this year as globally low interest rates have made bonds an attractive funding option for companies.The number of issuers on the debt market was up 16 per cent to 43 in September from a year earlier, while the 106 listed securities across all asset classes was 33 per cent higher than September 2015.

Companies listed $1b of new debt on the NZX in September, taking the year-to-date tally to $5.3b. That compares to no new equity listings last month, with just $1.26b of capital listed from initial public offerings and compliance listings this year.

Some $167m of new capital was raised across 25 events in the month, of which $155m was by primary issuers, $12m from dual and secondary issuers, and no debt. This year, $2.5b of new capital has been raised.

The value of all equity on the NZX was $122.2b, or 48.5 per cent of gross domestic product, up 26 per cent from September 2015, while the value of the debt market was $24.9b, or 9.9 per cent of GDP, an 86 per cent increase from a year earlier.

NZX's derivatives market reported a 9.2 per cent rise in the total lots of futures to 26,420, while options trading slumped 83 per cent to 730. Open interest was down 4.3 per cent to 48,487.

The stock market operator's funds management SuperLife unit increased funds under management 21 per cent to $1.6b from a year earlier, of which its KiwiSaver funds rose 35 per cent to $588m. Smartshares units on issue jumped 62 per cent to 745 million, with an 84 per cent gain in value to $1.7b.

In grain trading, the volume traded rose 21 per cent to 641,241 in the season to date from a year earlier.

NZX shares last traded at $1.03, and have declined 3.7 per cent this year. Yesterday, chief executive Tim Bennett announced he will step down from the role at the end of 2016, earlier than originally planned, after spending four years in charge of the stock market operator.