Infratil gives New Zealand shares a shot in the arm - market close

Infratil was among the day’s biggest gainers, up 3.9 per cent at $11.31. Photo / NZME

New Zealand shares joined a global rally, with Infratil one of the frontrunners after the infrastructure investment firm resumed trading fresh off a successful $1 billion to institutional investors.

The S&P/NZX 50 index rose 68.89 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 11,767.40. Within the index, 68 stocks gained, 69 fell and 44 were unchanged. Turnover was $192 million, with Infratil accounting for $59.4m.

The local market was buoyed by a global rally ahead of a series of Federal Reserve speakers in the US, soothed nerves about the upcoming French election in Europe and in the run-up to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s policy review, which kept the target cash rate unchanged at 4.35 per cent as expected.

Infratil was among the day’s biggest gainers, up 3.9 per cent at $11.31 on a volume of 5.4 million as it resumed trading from its $1b placement to institutional investors, who bought at a discounted $10.15 a share. The investment firm will sell a further $150m of stock to retail investors, using the proceeds to help fuel the growth of its CDC data business, which is latching on to burgeoning demand for artificial intelligence applications.

“It’s a great story at the moment – they are in the right place at the right time with their data centres, and the other businesses are also going well,” said Mark Lister, investment director at Craigs Investment Partners. “Investors are very comfortable with the story, the strategy and what they’re doing and there are expectations of it being a bigger stock.”

Fletcher Building also recovered some of its recent losses, rising 3.5 per cent to $2.99 after announcing Martin Brydon will step down from the board at the company’s annual meeting in October in the latest shake-up to its governance and management team.

Meanwhile, other building materials firms extended their recent declines with Vulcan Steel down 0.8 per cent at $7.44 and Steel & Tube falling 5.5 per cent to 86c. Metro Performance Glass was unchanged at 7 cents.

Warehouse Group also rallied after saying it’s slimmed down its executive team to focus on its Red and Blue Sheds and Noel Leeming brands. The shares climbed 3.7 per cent to $1.12.

Other retailers were mixed after data showed consumer sentiment near historic lows, with Michael Hill International up 2.1 per cent at 48c, Briscoe Group unchanged at $4.10, Hallenstein Glasson unchanged at $5.45 and KMD Brands sinking 3.5 per cent to 41 cents.

The dual-listed Australian banks held on to gains running into the RBA meeting, with ANZ Group up 2.5 per centat $31.75 and Westpac Banking Corp advancing 1.5 per cent to $29.40. Heartland Group Holdings, which this year completed its acquisition of Australia’s Challenger Bank, rose 1 per cent to 97 cents.

Exporters were generally stronger as the kiwi dollar remained subdued, trading at 61.16 US cents at 5pm in Wellington. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose 1.8 per cent to $31.04, winemaker Delegat Group advanced 4.3 per cent to $4.85 and A2 Milk increased 0.1 per cent to $7.22.

Air NZ was unchanged at 53.5c after announcing plans to boost capacity on its Auckland-Tokyo route during the prime minister’s delegation to Japan. Auckland International Airport rose 1.6 per cent to $7.545.

Argosy Property fell 0.9 per cent to $1. 5 after telling shareholders at today’s annual meeting that it’s still facing challenging trading conditions and increased tax obligations on the government’s building depreciation rules.

Among other property companies, Investore Property fell 4.8 per cent to 99 cents, Stride Property declined 1.6 per cent to $1.21, Property For Industry was down 0.2 per cent at $2.18, Kiwi Property was unchanged at 80.5 cents, Goodman Property was unchanged at $2.12, and Precinct Properties NZ rose 1.8 per cent to $1.5 on a volume of 1.1 million shares.

Power companies remained under pressure after yesterday’s operating metrics showed hydro lakes storage below historical averages. Mercury NZ fell 1.9 per cent to $6.36, Genesis Energy declined 1.6 per cent to $2.16, Meridian Energy decreased 0.3 per cent to $6.25 and Contact Energy slipped 0.2 per cent to $9.15.

Carbon Fund units fell 1.4 per cent to $1.44 ahead of this week’s auction, which will offer almost 4.1 million NZ units.

Among the more heavily traded companies, Spark NZ was unchanged at $4.03 with 4 million shares changing hands and Smartshares Global Aggregate Bond ETF units fell 0.6 per cent to $1.176 on a volume of 1.1 million.