NZX lifts 0.2% as markets wait for Fed decision - Market close

Federal Reserve Board chairman Jerome Powell. Photo /AP, Mark Schiefelbein

It’s all eyes on Jerome Powell and the other US Federal Reserve governors in equity markets as a strong lead from Wall Street has lifted the New Zealand benchmark.

The S&P/NZX 50 gained 0.2% to 13,234.89 points on Tuesday, with turnover of 38.6 million shares worth over $145.8m.

Jeremy Sullivan, an investment adviser at Hamilton Hindin Greene, said investors’ eyes were on the Federal Reserve, which will release its decision on cutting interest rates on Wednesday.

“It’s pretty much a done deal on a rate cut in the US, and their outlook will be very interesting,” he said. “That’s going to be a key catalyst for global markets.”

The United States benchmarks, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite, closed at all-time highs on Monday.

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, became the fourth company to reach a US$3 trillion (NZ$5t) market capitalisation.

The NZX

Channel Infrastructure NZ was a standout on the bourse, gaining 4.7% to $2.45 and adding to its solid year-to-date performance.

Harbour Asset Management portfolio manager Shane Solly said the most recent sugar hit came from being added to the FTSE small-cap index on Friday.

In an investor-day presentation released to the market, Oceania Healthcare disclosed it expected total unit sales to reach between 265 and 275, or about 3% to 7% higher than the same period last year.

“New care suite sales are strong with new product launches in Redwood, Blenheim and Meadowbank, Auckland,” it said.

The retirement village and aged care company, which dipped 0.72% to 68.5 cents, also said it has plans to offload four to six sites, releasing an estimated $30m to $50m.

Similarly, Ryman Healthcare listed a property in Christchurch where the company had been planning to build a high-rise retirement project on Monday.

“A bit of a strategy refresh away from the intensified living arrangements that haven’t been that popular with residents,” Sullivan said. “It’s worth noting as well, consents in the sector have dropped off materially.”

Ryman and the last remaining listed retirement company, Summerset Group, rose 1.62% to $2.51 and 2.41% to $11.03, respectively.

Freightways Group likewise performed well, finishing up 2.17% at $12.70, while Briscoe Group went in the other direction, losing 8.19% to $4.93 on light volumes.

Last week, Briscoe tempered profit expectations in its half-year earnings result.

Pacific Edge lost some of yesterday’s gains, dropping 6.53% to 18.6 cents, but remaining up about 30% for the last five days.

Metro and Macro

Metro Performance Glass announced it had successfully wrapped up its $23.9m recapitalisation, with a strongly supported rights offer.

The pro-rata renounceable rights offer drew $10.7m in applications, with 67% of shareholders taking up their entitlements and oversubscriptions exceeding the remaining shares by $1.8m. As a result, no shares were required to be taken up by underwriters.

Sullivan said it was a company that was “truly in need of some capital”.

As well as the Fed meeting, Sullivan said local investors will be anticipating the Stats NZ trade balance and gross domestic product (GDP) data releases, set to come out later this week.