High-yield shares lure investors

Shares in Starbucks owner Restaurant Brands rose.

NZ market gets boost as Fed’s worries picked to stall US rate rise

New Zealand stocks rose as investors were lured to high-yielding stocks such as Genesis Energy and Meridian Energy after interest rates looked likely to stay low in the United States.

But Xero fell after an update on US expansion plans disappointed traders.

The NZX 50 index rose 20.14 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 5266.04.

Twenty-six stocks in the index rose in price, 18 fell and six were unchanged. Turnover was $133.8 million.

Investors pulled back their bets on an early start to higher US interest rates after the Federal Reserve signalled concerns about the strength of the US economy.

Energy companies and property trusts rose on the prospect of interest rates staying low.

Meridian rose 2.4 per cent to $1.495, Genesis 2.6 per cent to $1.97, Contact Energy 1.5 per cent to $5.96 and MightyRiverPower 0.4 per cent to $2.59.

Property For Industry rose 1.8 per cent to $1.425, Kiwi Income Property Trust 0.4 per cent to $1.195 and infrastructure investor Infratil 0.4 per cent to $2.59.

Fletcher Building led the index higher, rising 3 per cent to $8.87.

Xero, the cloud-based accounting software firm, fell 1 per cent to $20.95.

The company is targeting the US market for growth and updated the market saying that although it had 116 per cent growth in annualised revenue in the US, it totalled $8.2 million and actual revenue in the six months to last month totalled $3 million.

"The numbers on the US are worse than the market expected," said Salt Funds Management director Paul Harrison.

Fast-food chain operator Restaurant Brands New Zealand rose 2.9 per cent to $3.52. Government figures yesterday showed Kiwi spending on hospitality using credit and debit cards increased 0.3 per cent to $746 million last month.

Outdoor goods and clothing retailer Kathmandu Holdings fell 0.7 per cent to $2.93.

Spark, formerly Telecom, fell 1.7 per cent to $2.91.