Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said markets were oscillating between central bank rate cuts, China economic stimulus and the geopolitical risk in the Middle East.
The European Central Bank reduced its official rate for the third time this year – by 25 basis points to 3.25%. Solly said investors were looking to China economic policy statements over the weekend.
“There’s a bunch of meetings going on and there’s been a cooling of enthusiasm till the details of the latest stimulus are known.”
The Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.67% to 3190.63 points at 5.45pm NZ time, while the Hong Kong Hang Seng had risen 0.75% to 20,229.94.
Solly said the local market was still constructive and investors were waiting for the right opportunity – “the tone is when to buy rather than if to buy”.
The investors will get further guides next week, with 11 companies holding annual meetings including Ebos, Fletcher Building, Freightways and Property for Industry on Wednesday.
“They are good indicators of what is happening in the economy, and annual meetings are now quite important because the companies use them to provide trading and earnings updates,” Solly said.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 40c to $37.01; Gentrack rose 35c or 3.3% to $11.08; Spark rebounded 6.5c or 2.17% to $3.055; Ventia Services increased 28c or 5.31% to $5.55; and Sky TV gained 7c or 2.63% to $2.73.
Solly said Spark has been bouncing around the $3 mark and there’s a view that a proportion of the global index selling has already occurred. (Spark is expected to be removed from the MSCI Global Index in mid-November).
In the property sector, Argosy gained 2c or 1.85% to $1.10; Property for Industry rose 10c or 1.85% to $5.50; and Precinct was up 3.5c or 2.79% to $1.29 after launching a $75m five-year wholesale green bonds issue at an annual rate of 5.42%.
Synlait Milk rose 3c or 7.41% to 43.5c; Rakon was up 2c or 2.94% to 70c; Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund added 8c to $4.98; Seeka increased 9c or 3.1% to $2.99; Delegat Group gained 10c or 1.85% to $5.50 and Oceania Healthcare was up 2c or 2.56% to 80c.
Mainfreight declined 81c to $71.40, a2 Milk was down 12c or 1.8% to $6.53; Fletcher Building decreased 6c or 1.85% to $3.18; Port of Tauranga shed 14c or 2.33% to $5.86; and Chorus eased 14.5c to $8.845.
Turners Automotive was down 8c or 1.75% to $4.50; Michael Hill declined 3c or 5.17% to 55c; Santana Minerals shed 12c or 5.02% to $2.27; Scott Technology eased 7c or 3.66% to $1.84; and Green Cross Health decreased 2c or 2.67% to 73c.
Vista Group, down 2c to $3.08, will be holding its special meeting on November 15 requested by Potentia Capital Management, which has a 19.93% shareholding.
The Vista board has strongly recommended that shareholders vote against removing existing directors Susan Peterson and Kirk Senior and appointing a Potentia-nominated candidate, Amitesh Chand.
Foley Wines gained 2c or 2.53% to 81c after telling shareholders at the annual meeting it has made a solid start to the 2025 financial year. Export cases increased 48% to 110,000 in the first quarter compared with the same period last year. The New Zealand portfolio has grown 6%.
