Mainfreight hits record as shares rise

Mainfreight advanced 2.3 per cent to $21.37, a record high. Photo / File

New Zealand shares rose, led by Contact Energy and Mainfreight which hit a record, while Arvida Group and ANZ fell.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index gained 24.84 points, or 0.4 per cent, to $7,037.58. Within the index, 23 stocks rose, 18 fell and nine were unchanged. Turnover was $114.8 million.

"There's not too much on the downside today, it's a pretty quiet Tuesday on our market, perhaps typical for this time of year with people still getting back into the swing of things," said James Smalley, director at Hamilton Hindin Greene.

At 5:15 pm local time, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.5 per cent, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 1 per cent and Japan's Nikkei 400 was down 0.8 per cent.

Contact Energy led the index, up 2.3 per cent to $4.85, while Auckland International Airport rose 2 per cent to $6.61 and Ryman Healthcare gained 1.8 per cent to $8.42.

Mainfreight advanced 2.3 per cent to $21.37, a record high. Overnight, data and research house IHS Markit published its composite Purchasing Managers' Index for the Eurozone, which rose to its highest since May 2011 with a weakened euro boosting demand for goods and services.

Arvida Group was the worst performer, down 2.2 per cent to $1.32. ANZ dropped 1.7 per cent to $32.72 and Chorus fell 1.6 per cent to $4.04.

Warehouse Group dropped 1.4 per cent to $2.77 and has now fallen 11.2 per cent since Dec. 20 when it warned profit may fall between 10 and 15 per cent in its first half.

The retailer on Tuesday said it will trim down its organisational structure in a bid to cut costs, bundling its stationery and 'Red Sheds' into one division and its Noel Leeming and Torpedo7 groups into another.

Outside the benchmark index, Hellaby Holdings was unchanged at $3.52 while ASX- listed auto-parts company Bapcor dropped 0.9 per cent to $5.975.

Bapcor now owns 50.1 per cent of Hellaby Holdings, establishing a controlling stake in its takeover target.

Bapcor is to waive its 90 per cent condition, a threshold which would let it enforce mop-up provisions to take the company private, on its $3.60 takeover offer, as it has received acceptances for more than 50 per cent of the shares.