“We are reaching the end of the quarter and maybe some investors are positioning themselves. We saw a buy-up at the close of trading two days ago and this flowed through today.”
Wall Street rallied, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1 per cent to 32,717.6 points; S&P 500 increasing 1.42 per cent to 4027.81 and now up 4.9 per cent for the year; and Nasdaq Composite rising 1.79 per cent to 11,926.24 and up 13.95 per cent year to date.
Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had gained 1 per cent to 7120.6 points at 6pm NZ time.
At home, the March ANZ Business Outlook survey indicated that confidence was unchanged at minus 43, and expected own activity was flat at minus 9. Retail, construction and agriculture respondents were generally more upbeat, while manufacturing and services firms became more pessimistic.
ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner said March saw a mix of small rises and falls across activity indicators.
“Inflation indicators continue to inch lower – going in the right direction, albeit painfully slowly. For now, the slowdown is looking broadly in line with the Reserve Bank’s intentions.”
Energy stocks were strong. Meridian was up 18c or 3.44 per cent to $5.41; Genesis rose 14c or 5.26 per cent to $2.80; Mercury gained 8c to $6.28; and Vector increased 11c or 2.81 per cent to $4.02.
Contact increased 9c to $7.80 after setting an interest rate of 5.62 per cent for its six-year green bond, which will be issued on April 6.
Telecommunications provider Chorus rose 31.5c or 3.87 per cent to $8.465; and utility investor Infratil gained 18c or 2 per cent to $9.18. The All Utilities sector on the NZX Index was up 2.23 per cent.
Among other leading stocks, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gained 25c to $26.20; Fletcher Building increased 19c or 4.38 per cent to $4.53; Mainfreight added 35c to $70.50; and Skellerup Holdings was up 12c or 2.41 per cent to $5.10.
Ebos Group rose $1.61 or 3.58 per cent to a new high of $46.61. Freightways rebounded 42c or 4.58 per cent to $9.60; and so did Napier Port ,rising 14c or 5.58 per cent to $2.65. Scales Corp was up 10c or 3.26 per cent to $3.17.
In the retirement village sector, Ryman Healthcare was up 24c or 4.61 per cent to $5.45, and Summerset Group gained 14c to $8.92.
Synlait Milk’s slide ended with a 7c or 3.41 per cent gain to $2.12. Main said Synlait had been sold off and investors found a bottom they were comfortable with – though long-term funding was still a concern.
In the banking sector, ANZ was up 65c or 2.68 per cent to $24.90; Westpac increased 80c or 3.52 per cent to $23.50; and Heartland Group improved 4c or 2.58 per cent to $1.59.
In the property sector, Precinct Properties was up 2.5c or 1.99 per cent to $1.28; Goodman Trust gained 3.5c to $2.14; and Argosy increased 1.5c to $1.13.
Other gainers were Vulcan Steel up 22c or 2.75 per cent to $8.22; Michael Hill collecting 2c or 1.89 per cent to $1.08; Smartpay Holdings increasing 3c or 2.48 per cent to $1.24; and Vista Group up 6c or 4.51 per cent to $1.39.
Pacific Edge improved 2c or 4.88 per cent to 43c; Tourism Holdings gained 7c to $4; AFT Pharmaceuticals was up 10c or 3.03 per cent to $3.40; PGG Wrightson added 16c or 3.83 per cent to $4.34; and investment funds Barramundi (up 2.9 per cent) and Marlin Global (up 2.33 per cent) both rose 2c to 71c and 88c respectively.
Turners Automotive was down 8c or 2.33 per cent to $3.36; New Zealand Oil & Gas declined 3c or 7.32 per cent to 38c; Allied Farmers decreased 2c to 2.74 per cent to 71c; and Restaurant Brands shed 12c or 1.83 per cent to $6.43.
The Herald reported that marketplace Trade Me, now owned by London-based private equity firm Apax Partners, may be relisted on the New Zealand and Australia stock exchanges.
