Index ends week on high note, rebounding from 5-day slide

Tegel rose 2.3 per cent to $1.32. Photo / Kenny Rodger

NZ shares rose, snapping five days of decline, with Tegel Group Holdings and A2 Milk Co recovering from being sold off earlier in the week, while Vista Group International and Infratil fell.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index gained 11.63 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 6760.25. Within the index, 27 stocks rose, 19 fell and five were unchanged. Turnover was solid at $239.8 million.

"After a pretty miserable week we've had a nice rebound to finish off. There were firmer markets offshore but I also think we're starting to see a little bit of bargain-hunting in our own market," said Grant Williamson, director at Hamilton Hindin Greene. "Following a pretty miserable day for Tegel on Thursday, it's come in for a little bit of bargain-hunting."

Tegel rose 2.3 per cent to $1.32. It sank 17 per cent to a record low $1.29 on Thursday after posting a 4 per cent decline in first-half earnings as margins were squeezed by a glut of chicken keeping domestic prices low. Tegel expects annual underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of between $75 million and $85m, having earlier projected pro forma earnings of $84m for the 2017 year.

A2 Milk led the index higher, gaining 3.4 per cent to $2.15. It began declining on Monday on the news that Australian formula producer Bellamy's had gone into a trading halt on the ASX, and had dropped 14 per cent before today's bounce.

"There's still a bit of caution as we wait for the news from Bellamy's over in Australia. Investors will be cautious about what that means for that stock and obviously how it affects the sector," Williamson said.

Williamson said there was buying in blue chip stocks, which have been knocked down recently, and some yield stocks have come back into play.

"Quite often we see a Christmas and New Year rally on the market. It'll be interesting to see whether that happens this year. Once the institutions close up it's normally the 'mum and dad' investors who push the market a little higher in the quiet period," Williamson said.

Vista was down 3.5 per cent to $5.50. Infratil dropped 2.8 per cent to $2.60 and Property for Industry declined 2.6 per cent to $1.51.

Sky Network Television dropped 0.5 per cent to $4.08. It's shed 17 per cent since Wednesday, when it cut its 2017 earnings guidance, citing rising content costs and falling revenue and subscribers.

Outside the benchmark index, AFT Pharmaceuticals fell 1.1 per cent to $2.75. The drug-maker will have to reapply to Pharmac for a heart medicine supply contract it won in July 2015, which has suffered supply disruptions over the past year.

Hellaby Holdings was unchanged at $3.46. The company is engaged in a battle to fend off unwanted suitor Bapcor and advised shareholders not to accept a revised takeover offer when it provided first-half guidance for profit to be up to $39.5m, promising a special dividend if the bid fails.