Photo / NZME
The New Zealand sharemarket finished one of the quietest weeks of the year with another flat trading day, while some of the steam came out of United States stocks.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index made some headway late in the session and closed at 11,940.44, up 8.33 points or 0.07 per cent.
The index reached an intraday low of 11,903.31 points and was down 0.4 per cent for the week. It has now risen 4 per cent so far this year.
There was an even spread of 63 gainers and 63 decliners over the whole market on volumes of 31.05 million share transactions worth $116.35 million.
The volumes were boosted by changes in several indices including MSCI with 4.12 million Meridian shares worth $21.93m changing hands. Meridian was down 15.5c or 2.83 per cent to $5.315.
Oceania Healthcare, another stock affected, was unchanged at 75c after 1.55 million shares worth $1.16m were traded.
Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said: “We’ve had a pretty flat week and globally we saw a pause in stock rises as US long-term bond yields went up.
“Employment is holding up better than expected in the US and the bond market is pricing in another interest rate hike. This has made investors wary as some markets have moved a long way,” said Solly.
“Our market has underperformed and maybe we will hold up better if things start to fall back.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average still had its ninth successive day of rises, gaining 0.47 per cent to 35,225.18 points. But the S&P 500 Index was down 0.68 per cent to 4534.87 points and the Nasdaq Composite declined 2.05 per cent to 14,063.31, matching the biggest single-day fall this year.
An unusual move by the Nasdaq managers to reduce the weightings of the large technology stocks and spread the risk took some of the puff from the market. “That created a little bit of volatility,” said Solly.
Tesla warned that vehicle production would slow during the third quarter because of shutdowns for factory improvements and its share price fell 9.74 per cent to US$262.90 ($422.26).
At home, Auckland International Airport increased 15c or 1.84 per cent to $8.30 on speculation that Auckland Council is making a placement for the sale of 7 per cent of its 18 per cent shareholding.
Chorus added 11c to $8.33; Freightways collected 7c to $8.56; a2 Milk was up 6c to $5.56; Delegat Group increased 22c or 2.55 per cent to $8.85; and Winton Land gained 5c or 2.44 per cent to $2.10.
Hallenstein Glasson increased 9c to $6.60; Vital Healthcare Property Trust was up 4c to $2.40; and Just Life Group improved 2c or 7.14 per cent to 30c.
AFT Pharmaceuticals increased 2c to $3.70 after announcing a licensing agreement with French pharma company Crossject to market an epilepsy-related drug in Australia and New Zealand. The drug Zeneo Midazolam is administered needle-free for the rescue treatment of epileptic seizures.
Mercury Energy decreased 6.5c to $6.41; Tower declined 1c to 61c; Tourism Holdings shed 10c or 2.81 per cent to $3.46; and Pacific Edge was down 0.005c or 2.55 per cent to 19.1c.
Allied Farmers declined 3c or 4.05 per cent to 71c; and PaySauce fell 1.5c or 5.88 per cent to 24c.
Infratil, up 2c to $9.85, has completed its $150m six-year infrastructure bond issue, carrying an interest rate of 6.9 per cent. The bonds will be issued on July 31.
Westpac, down 10c to $23.91, has completed its restructure by appointing chief executives for consumer and business banking and exiting nine businesses. The specialist businesses division has been disbanded and operations has moved into corporate services, with a standalone technology function.
Blis Technologies, manufacturer of advanced probiotic strains, gained 0.003c or 13.04 per cent to 2.6c after reporting 18 per cent revenue growth to $2.8m for the June quarter compared with the same period last year. Operating earnings (ebitda) were breakeven compared with a loss of $300,000 in the previous June quarter.
ANZ Research has reduced the farmgate milk price forecast for the 2023-24 season by 50c to $7.75 per kg of milk solids, but maintained the forecast of $8.20 for the present season.
ANZ said global demand for dairy products has been impacted by deteriorating economic conditions affecting consumer demand, particularly in China.