Another down day for NZ stocks as eyes turn to rates, economic data - Market close

The New Zealand sharemarket fell for the sixth successive trading day.

The lacklustre New Zealand sharemarket fell for the sixth successive trading day - the second time this has happened in a month.

Following a down day on Wall Street, the S&P/NZX 50 Index fell sharply at the opening and had a late rise to close at 11,728.01, down 38.97 points or 0.33 per cent after reaching an intraday low of 11,690.78.

There were 51 gainers and 94 decliners on the main board with 28.62 million shares worth $101.22 million changing hands.

Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said the index falling six days in a row sounds bad but it’s hardly a catastrophic pullback. “They have been pretty small moves on light volumes.”

The falls have ranged from 0.01 per cent to 0.42 per cent, while between February 8 and 15 the moves were bigger, ranging from minus 0.16 per cent to minus 0.88 per cent.

Goodson said some stocks corrected after rising in the index changes on Friday.

Vital Healthcare Property Trust was down 4.5c or 2.05 per cent to $2.155; Investore decreased 3c or 2.61 per cent to $1.12; and Vector declined 12c or 3.06 per cent to $3.80.

The United States Federal Reserve, Australian Reserve Bank and Bank of England are all meeting this week and are expected to keep interest rates unchanged. The hotter-than-expected inflation at the consumer and producer levels is expected to keep any US rate cuts in check for a little while longer.

The Bank of Japan is expected to end its policy of negative interest rates and increase rates for the first time in 17 years because of strong wage growth.

Goodson said any move by the bank will be closely watched by the markets as Japan has been a great source of liquidity. “If funding becomes less cheap, then the ability to buy yen and gear up in other yielding investments becomes more difficult.”

Gross domestic product (GDP) data for the final quarter of last year will be released on Wednesday, indicating how the New Zealand economy is travelling.

Economists have a range of 0.1 per cent growth to 0.2 per cent contraction and the latest number will dictate whether the country has fallen into a technical recession following the 0.3 per cent fall in the September quarter.

Heartland Group, down 6.11 per cent on Friday, fell a further 6c or 4.88 per cent to $1.17 after being removed from the FTSE Russell Small Cap Index.

Ebos Group declined 53c to $37.07; Mainfreight shed 94c to $67.50; Port of Tauranga fell 15c or 2.8 per cent to $5.20; Auckland International Airport decreased 8c to $8.16; and Freightways gave up 10c to $8.42.

Contact Energy declined 18c or 2.16 per cent to $8.17 after reporting steady mass market electricity and gas sales of 252GWh in February. Electricity generated or acquired increased to 671GWh, up from 542GWh in February last year. South Island controlled hydro storage was 87 per cent of mean and North Island 140 per cent at March 10.

In other energy stock movements, Mercury was up 13c or 1.95 per cent to $6.80; Meridian gained 4.5c to $5.60; and Genesis added 4c to $2.50.

SkyCity was down 4c or 2.06 per cent to $1.90; Serko declined 7c or 1.86 per cent to $3.70; Tourism Holdings shed 8c or 2.38 per cent to $3.38; Tower decreased 1.5c or 2.13 per cent to 69c; Stride Property slipped 4c or 3.03 per cent; and Winton Land was down 5c or 2.21 to $2.21.

Recruitment group Accordant hit a 14-year low after falling 7c or 9.21 per cent to 69c.

Gentrack rose 8c to a new high of $8.11 and has now risen nearly 190 per cent over the past 12 months. Gentrack was at $1.32 on September 27, 2022.

Retailers Briscoe Group rose 19c or 4.13 per cent to $4.79 and Hallenstein Glasson gained 9c to $6.30 ahead of half-year results for KMD Brands and The Warehouse, which are expected to be soft.

Vista Group was up 6c or 3.24 per cent to $1.91; a2 Milk added a further 16c or 2.58 per cent to $6.34; Seeka collected 10c or 3.64 per cent to $2.85; and Green Cross Health gained 3c or 2.86 per cent to $1.08.

NZ Windfarms, up 0.005c or 3.85per cent to 13.5c, told the market Warren Koia, its chief executive for nearly five years, has resigned and will be leaving in mid-June.

Truscreen Group, down 0.001c or 5 per cent, has raised $2.6m through a share placement and shareholder rights offer.