At the Mood of the Boardroom breakfast, Labour’s finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds was asked what sort of OCR reduction she would like to see from the Reserve Bank next week.
“I’ve seen three banks come out with a 0.5% cut and some 0.25%. It’s tough times out there. If you look at the GDP and unemployment figures, they are clashing against each other. The GDP figures are not going up.
“I would probably look at 0.25% (cut) and if I was leading with my heart I would go for 0.5%,” Edmonds said.
New Zealand primary producers are finding life better with the ANZ World Commodity Price Index increasing 1.8% in September. Stronger prices were recorded for all major sectors except forestry.
On a global basis, dairy prices were up 2.3% on increasing demand with whole milk powder increasing 24% and butter prices rising 42%. Meat and fibre prices were up 1.4% for the month and 18.3% for the year.
Lamb strengthened 5% but prices are still weak, while beef returns are stronger though prices softened in September.
The horticulture index was up 3.3% and kiwifruit prices increased 5% despite larger volumes for export. The quality of SunGold kiwifruit is the best seen in five years and demand has strengthened in China and parts of Europe.
Forestry was down 3% last month but usage of logs increased in China and export volumes are likely to increase. Aluminium prices were up 4.5% and are now 12.5% higher than a year ago.
Amongst the leading stocks, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was up 69c or 1.96% to $35.84; Ebos Group gained 49c to $36.90; and Meridian Energy collected 20c or 3.45% to $5.94.
Freightways rose 45c or 4.97% to $9.50; Auckland International Airport added 9c to $7.49; and Spark, which has fallen 40% this year, increased 10c or 3.33% to $3.105.
Fletcher Building, in the middle of its capital raise, was up 11c or 3.61% to $3.16; Skellerup Holdings, ex-dividend, gained 7.5c to $4.50; Scales Corp improved 11c or 2.96% to $3.83; and Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund increased 8c or 1.77% to $4.59.
Hallenstein Glasson broke through the $7 mark after gaining 14c or 2.01% to a three-year high of $7.10. Its share price was $7.05 in early December 2021. Fellow retailers Michael Hill gained 2c or 3.85% to 54c, and The Warehouse was 3c or 2.63% to $1.11.
Pacific Edge rebounded 1c or 6.9% to 15.5c; NZ King Salmon Investments was up 1.5c or 6.38% to 25c; Air New Zealand added 1c or 1.9% to 53.5c; Cooks Coffee rose 4.5c or 18% to 29.5c; Blackpearl Group gained 5c or 3.7% to $1.40; and Vulcan Steel was up 15c or 1.85% to $8.25.
In the property sector, Vital Healthcare Trust added 4c or 2.19% to $1.87; Argosy was up 2.5c or 2.37% to $1.08; and Property for Industry was down 4c or 1.81% to $2.17.
Profit-taking carved 23c or 2.04% off Gentrack to $11.07. Sanford was down 7c or 1.86% to $3.70; a2 Milk eased 10c to $6.87; Santana Minerals fell 22c or 9.17% to $2.18; and Move Logistics declined 1.5c or 7.14% to 19.5c.
NZ Rural Land decreased 2c or 2.13% to 92c; Solution Dynamics shed 10c or 7.87% to $1.17; and Third Age Health declined 9c or 4.41% to $1.95.
TruScreen, up 0.001c or 5.26% to 2c, said its ultra cervical cancer screening device has been included in the technology landscape report by Unitaid, a World Health Organisation agency.
The latest NZX statistics showed a 15.6% increase in total trades to 937,136 during September, with total value up 16.1% to $3.824b. The average on-market trade size was $2794, up 33.4%.
The total capital listed and raised in September was $2.903 billion and year to date $11.436b – an 11.1% fall year-on-year. The NZX share price was down 3c or 2.33% to $1.26.
