Port of Tauranga was down 10c to $5.90. Photo / NZME
A tentative New Zealand sharemarket opened the week with a fall of more than 0.5%, led down by blue-chip stocks, as it awaited the latest inflation data.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index gradually slid throughout the day and closed at 12,766.75, down 78.89 points or 0.61%. The index reached a midday high of 12,845.64 points.
Jeremy Sullivan, investment adviser with Hamilton Hindin Greene, said wholesale interest rates increased slightly and this affected yield stocks. There was also a lack of detail around the latest Chinese economic stimulus, which dampened markets.
The Ministry of Finance said at the weekend China would issue more debt (bonds) to boost the property market, recapitalise banks and help cash-strapped local governments, but it didn’t talk money.
The actual amount of extra fiscal stimulus needs to be rubber-stamped by the National People’s Congress (China’s Parliament).
The decline in retail spending in New Zealand slowed as the market looked ahead to the release of the September ConsumerPrice Index.
Stats NZ said total retail spending in September was flat but core spending, excluding fuel and vehicles, was up 0.3%. On an annual basis, total spending fell by 5.6% compared with September 2023.
Westpac said the downturn in retail spending through the first half of the year had been arrested but spending levels weren’t turning higher just yet.
ANZ is predicting quarterly CPI inflation at 0.8%, representing an annual rate of 2.3% and line with the Reserve Bank’s forecast. But domestic inflation is expected to be 1.5%, slightly higher than the bank’s 1.4% and driven by the largest quarterly rise in council rates since 1987.
Headline inflation falling back in the 1-3% target band may represent a key psychological threshold for policymakers and the Reserve Bank but non-tradables (domestic) inflation was still way too high, ANZ said.
Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 41c to $36.79; Ebos Group decreased 37c to $37.05; Infratil shed 15c to $12.19; and Gentrack declined 36c or 3.2% to $10.89; and Spark eased 5c to $3.
The interest rate-sensitive retirement village operators were weaker. Summerset Group was down 18c to $12.15; Ryman Healthcare declined 9c or 1.81% to $4.89; and Oceania Healthcare fell 2c or 2.47% to 79c.
Port of Tauranga was down 10c to $5.90; Scales Corp decreased 8c or 2.11% to $3.72; Santana Minerals fell 7c or 2.81% to $2.425; and NZME shed 2c or 1.89% to $1.04.
Colonial Motor Co declined 15c or 2.17% to $6.75; Rakon decreased 2c or 2.9% to 67c; 2 Cheap Cars was down 2c or 2.53% to 77c; and Steel & Tube shed 2c or 2.04% to 96c.
NZX increased 6c or 4.38% to $1.43 after upgrading its full-year operating earnings (Ebitda) guidance to $45m-$49m, from $40m-$44.5m, because of the stronger-than-expected large capital raising in September, which fed into increased trading.
PGG Wrightson was up 2c to $1.92 after providing a full-year operating earnings (Ebitda) guidance of $51m, compared with $44.2m for the 2024 financial year which was down $17m.
PGG said the rural servicing market in New Zealand remained relatively challenged, especially sheep farmers with flock numbers estimated to have reduced 4.3% to 23.3 million.
Blackpearl Group gained 4c or 2.94% to $1.40 after reporting a 126% year-on-year rise in annual recurring revenue of $120.4m to the end of September. Subscription revenue was up 86% to $1.7m and gross profit margin was steady at 73%.
Manawa Energy, up 1c to $5.33, reported that its controlled hydro storage was 78% of average at the end of September and continued to climb this month. Manawa said the increase in storage levels along with excess gas volume in the market resulted in a significant reduction in wholesale electricity spot prices.
Vista Group was up 3c to $3.03 after it told the market that one of Admetus Capital-nominated directors Peter James was withdrawing his name for the Vista board. Admetus has requested a special shareholders’ meeting to vote on removing two existing board members and replacing them with nominated directors.
Other gainers were Mainfreight adding 41c to $73.51; Skellerup adding 9c or 1.99% to $4.61; Hallenstein Glasson collecting 10c to $7.33; Napier Port increasing 5c or 2.27% to $2.25; Seeka improving 7c or 2.69% to $2.67; and The Warehouse up 2c or 1.83% to $1.11.
Metro Performance Glass gained 0.004c or 6.67% to 6.4c; ikeGPS increased 2c or 3.28% to 63c; Pacific Edge was up 0.006c or 3.87% to 16.1c; and T&G Global improved 4c or 2.63% to $1.56.
Probiotics manufacturer Blis Technologies, down 0.001c or 7.69% to 1.2c, is in negotiations with Swiss-based Bluestone Pharma GmbH and Austrian company Lactosan GmbH over settlement options for alleged contract breaches involving Blis’ confidential information on its fermentation processes.