NZX 50 index weak but select stocks perform

File photo / NZ Herald

The New Zealand sharemarket was weak but Air NZ rose on strong operating statistics for November, and Michael Hill rose as the family owner clarified plans to up its stake.

The NZX-50 index closed down 25.15 points, or 0.76 per cent, at 3299.96, which was near where it started the day. The US market was flat on Friday, but tensions on the Korean peninsula kept traders wary in Asia and trading is thin ahead of the holiday season in some markets.

Contact Energy fell 10c to $6.14, giving up some of the gains it made last week. The rain across the country was likely to bring wholesale electricity prices down, said Hamilton Hindin Greene director Grant Williamson.

Rural stocks were mixed, with PGG Wrightson up 3c to 47c but Allied Farmers was unchanged at 2c.

Shares in Michael Hill International rose 2c to 87c after Durante Holdings, set up to consolidate the holdings of shares held by the Hill family through family trusts, said it is offering 90c a share to buy 5 per cent of the shares it does not already own. That would see it buying 10 million shares and take its holding to 50.2 per cent.

Williamson said investors accepting the offer might be scaled back but the move showed confidence in the business from the family owner.

Air NZ rose 2c to $1.49 after reporting an 11 per cent rise in passenger numbers in November from the same month a year ago. The share price is at its highest level since 2008.

Williamson said some companies with businesses abroad performed well because of a weaker NZ dollar.

Mainfreight, which has significant overseas operations, rose 15c to $8.02 and Nuplex rose 11c to $3.52.

Fletcher Building was unchanged at $7.73 on a day Crane Group directors rejected its offer.

Telecom lost 2c to $2.21.

OceanaGold rose 25c to $5.05 and NZ Refining rose another 3c to $4.45.

The Warehouse rose 2c to $3.58 and Methven rose 2c to $1.69. Tourism Holdings rose 1c to 79c and Auckland Airport rose 2c to $2.16.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances fell 1c to 51c and NZOG fell 2c to 84c.

In the United States, stocks ended flat on Friday (local time) as investors shrugged off encouraging economic signs and a tax-cut package expected to lift economic growth. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.1 per cent to close at 11,491.91.

- NZPA