Ebos unwind pulls NZX 50 down 0.68% – Market close

Ebos Group fell 3.88% to $28.70 on trading volumes worth more than $6.1 million. Photo / 123RF

After benefiting from last week’s index reshuffles, Ebos Group has struggled to hold on to its gains and pulled the index downwards.

The New Zealand benchmark S&P/NZX 50 lost 0.68% and fell to 13,141.54 points on Monday, with 27.1 million shares worth $98.1 million changing hands.

There were 71 gainers and 72 decliners.

Ebos Group was the largest detractor on the index, dropping 3.88% to $28.70 on trading volumes worth more than $6.1m.

Paul Robertshawe, chief investment officer with Octagon Asset Management, said the stock unwound from a boost of demand spurred by inclusion on the ASX 200 late last week.

“It was fundamentally weak heading into that forced buying,” he said. “On the day people knew that was coming, they fed it out. And now we’re sort of back to: what’s the next announcement? Has it stabilised? Is it growing?”

Robertshawe said Tower and Chorus were likewise affected by the reshuffles that led to over $500m worth of shares being traded in Friday’s closing session.

Tower trimmed 1.14% to $1.73, and Chorus cut 1.48% to end the day on $9.29. Spark NZ rose 1.72% to $2.37 but remains down nearly 20% for the year to date.

Sales and risers

Travelling in the other direction was Vital Healthcare, which Robertshawe said had passed a liquidity test for FTSE index inclusion.

The healthcare-related building investor rose 2.75% to $2.24.

The a2 Milk Company disclosed that its executive team had sold more than $6m worth of company shares to meet its tax obligations.

Included in the on-market sales were 242,345 shares held by managing director and chief executive David Bortolussi.

Meanwhile, a substantial product holder notice released in the afternoon showed that Harbour Asset Management raised its holding of Mainfreight to over 5%.

The a2 Milk Company’s shares traded almost flat at $9.58, while Mainfreight lost 1.84% to $63.00.

Heartland Group added 1.57% to 97 cents after it said it had begun edging towards selling almost $400m of non-strategic assets by selling a stake in Harmoney Corp.

Gold prospects

Santana Minerals’ shares rose 2.89% to 89 cents after the precious metals explorer said its Rise and Shine gold deposit was “potentially much bigger” than previously thought.

Small-cap New Talisman Gold Mines also gained, jumping 5.17% to 6 cents on low volumes.

Gold, a safe-haven asset, is trading near record highs and heading towards US$4000 ($6828) an ounce.

After Stats NZ’s weaker-than-expected GDP data release last week, economists are expecting the economy to bounce back in the September quarter.

Cameron Bagrie, managing director of Bagrie Economics, told BusinessDesk he has pencilled in a 1% number for the third quarter, partly underpinned by statistical noise.

Robertshawe said he “really does think we are at the bottom now”.

“So, if you’re a contrarian investor, you’d say things get better from here ... But I probably said that six months ago.”