Comvita’s solid recovery continues; Being AI given ‘speeding ticket’ - Market close

Comvita continued a solid recovery, rising 17c or 7.59 per cent to $2.41. Photo / NZME

The New Zealand sharemarket had its fourth successive fall on light trading, and in a rare move the regulator issued a caution over investing in Being AI shares.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index did have a late rally in the matching session and closed at 12,012.24, down 23.02 points or 0.19 per cent. The index fell 0.77 per cent in the shortened week.

There were 89 decliners and 46 gainers on the main board with 28.16 million shares worth $81.81m changing hands.

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said the markets were unsettled by the increased tension between Iran and Israel and the prospect interest rate cuts in the United States may be later than expected, if not at all this year.

“We had a buyers’ strike on our market with investors unwilling to add to their positions. But the likes of Contact, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, and Spark held up well which was good to see while other parts of the market were weak,” Solly said.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve president Neel Kashkari said he wondered if the central bank should cut rates at all if inflation remained sticky, adding to a recent chorus of Fed speakers talking conservatively about policy.

The major US indices had sharp falls. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 530 points or 1.35 per cent to 38,596.98, its worst day since March last year; S&P 500 declined 1.23 per cent to 5147.21; and Nasdaq Composite fell 1.4 per cent to 16,049.08.

At home, market regulator NZ RegCo urged caution when dealing in the shares of new listing Being AI which rose from 1.7c on Tuesday to more than 7c. The regulator said that in a reverse listing transaction, Ascension Capital bought the Being group of companies at a valuation of 2.5c a share.

The day before NZ RegCo made a price enquiry to Being which confirmed it remained in compliance with listing rules – it did not have any material information which had not been disclosed to the market.

After the caution, Being’s share price fell 1.5c or 21.43 per cent to 5.5c after reaching an intraday high of 7.8c on 504 trades worth $261,243.

Solly said Being had little factual information behind it and “getting a speed ticket [from the regulator] was a constructive thing to do. The Being team has to step up and be transparent, not just change its name and stick AI on the end of it.”

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was up 38c to $25.78; Contact Energy gained 16c or 1.9 per cent to $8.56, Hallenstein Glasson added 17c or 2.72 per cent to $6.43; Accordant Group rebounded 7c or 11.67 per cent to 67c; and Comvita continued a solid recovery, rising 17c or 7.59 per cent to $2.41.

Freightways collected 16c or 1.82 per cent to $8.96; Port of Tauranga was up 7c to $5.40; Sanford increased 13c or 3.29 per cent to $4.08; Scott Technology rose 10c or 3.39 per cent to $3.05; Serko added 7c or 1.91 per cent to $3.74; and Synlait Milk rebounded 2c or 3.32 per cent to 64c.

Arvida Group, up 3c or 2.61 per cent to $1.18, told shareholders in a newsletter that sales for the 2024 financial year were more than $100m for the first time, including a record $38m sales in the fourth quarter.

Arvida said last year was one of “the hardest we have operated in” and the highly-conditional takeover approach from an overseas party, last September, had not been followed up.

Meridian Energy was down 7c to $5.91; Mercury declined 19c or 2.78 per cent to $6.65; Auckland International Airport decreased 10.5c to $8.26; Mainfreight shed $1.50 or 2.16 per cent to $68; and Ventia Services was down 12c or 2.82 per cent to $4.14.

Fletcher Building declined 4c to $4.05. Group chief financial officer Bevan McKenzie has resigned and will leave in early October, following in the footsteps of chief executive Ross Taylor, chair Bruce Hassall and two other directors.

Other decliners were Smartpay shedding 3.5c or 2.24 per cent to $1.525; and T&G Global decreasing 5c or 2.72 per cent to $1.79; and Eroad falling 3c or 3.3 per cent to 88c.