NZ shares play catch up after yesterday's outage

Port of Tauranga led the market higher. Photo / File

New Zealand shares were stronger as they played catch up from yesterday's late outage, with heavier trading than usual.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 34.01 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 11,260.84. Within the index, 28 stocks advanced, 18 fell and four were unchanged. Turnover was $186.9 million.

Trading was busier than normal with a volume of 35.3 million shares changing hands, more than the 90-day average of 28.5 million, after an outage late yesterday cut the session short.

Better than expected Chinese economic data yesterday helped buoy stocks on Wall Street overnight, and that positive sentiment carried on into Asia. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 1 per cent in afternoon trading, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index was flat, and South Korea's Kospi 200 Index increased 1.4 per cent.

"A big chunk of trading does get done at the open and close with some institutions trading then, and we're playing catch up today," said Grant Davies, an investment adviser at Hamilton Hindin Greene.

A recovery in the ANZ's latest business outlook in both the economic confidence and firms' own activity gauges also helped support the local outlook.

"That's good for the New Zealand economy and the New Zealand market more generally," Davies said.

Port of Tauranga led the market higher, up 3.4 per cent at $7.33 on a volume of 183,300 shares, compared to its 112,000 average.

Davies said the port operator had been supported by news that the government was considering shifting Auckland's downtown port operations and was trading at lofty highs.

"It's one of those companies that all the analysts say are over-priced and have done for a while, but it keeps on going up," Davies said.

Companies that have been beaten up in recent weeks were among today's gainers. Tourism Holdings rose 2.9 per cent to $3.15, Gentrack was up 1.9 per cent at $3.78, and Sky Network Television increased 1.4 per cent to 74 cents. Z Energy continued its recovery, up 1.6 per cent at $4.41 on a volume of 1 3 million shares.

Restaurant Brands New Zealand rose for a second day after reporting solid quarterly sales growth. It was up 2 per cent at $12.

Spark New Zealand was the most traded stock on a volume of 6.8 million shares, more than twice its average of 3 million. It dipped 0.1 per cent to $4.245.

Meridian Energy posted the day's biggest decline, down 2.1 per cent at $4.86 on a volume of 2.6 million shares, while Contact Energy fell 1.2 per cent to $7.14 with 1.7 million shares traded. The two companies were yesterday accused of over-charging for their electricity while spilling water from their South Island dams.

Mercury NZ fell 0.6 per cent to $4.795 on a volume of 1.1 million shares, and Genesis Energy increased 0.7 per cent to $2.95.

Of other companies trading on volumes of more than a million shares, Kiwi Property Group rose 1 per cent to $1.53, Fletcher Building increased 0.2 per cent to $5.30, Auckland International Airport was up 1.9 per cent at $8.81, Precinct Properties New Zealand decreased 0.8 per cent to $1.795, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose 0.7 per cent to $21.80, Argosy Property fell 1.8 per cent to $1.34, and Stride Property rose 1.8 per cent to $$2.24.

Vital Healthcare Property Trust was up 0.6 per cent at $2.685. The medical property investor said it planned a secondary listing on the ASX and a new capital structure to reduce its tax bill which would flow through to higher distributions.

Westpac Banking Corp fell 1.4 per cent to $25.56 after the Australian lender acknowledged an Australian Prudential Regulation Authority investigation into its anti-money laundering policy failures. The bank has been ordered to raise its capital requirements by A$500m ($520.3m) and its risk governance will be extensively reviewed.

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group rose 0.4 per cent to $26. The bank held its annual meeting in Brisbane today, and while it fielded criticism from the floor, it was far more amicable than Westpac's meeting last week.

Outside the benchmark index, T&G Global decreased 0.7 per cent to $2.95. The company warned annual profit would more than halve due to one-off restructuring costs and new lease accounting standards. It also bought Freshmax Group's domestic business for $30m.