New Zealand stocks climb higher – Market close

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 0.5%

The New Zealand sharemarket staged a solid turnaround with a 0.5% rise, while Rocket Lab stock is flying high in the United States.

In a familiar pattern, the S&P/NZX 50 Index picked up steam in the afternoon and closed at 12,749.36, a gain of 63.03 points or 0.5% after reaching an intraday low of 12,621.05 following a 0.66% fall the day before.

Trading was lighter with 25.53 million shares worth $108.24 million changing hands.

Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said in the Trumpian world Tesla and bitcoin reached new speculative highs but “in our real world the local market was quiet in terms of volume and price movements”.

Electric vehicle maker Tesla, founded by Donald Trump’s new adviser Elon Musk, rose 8.96% to US$350 ($587.40) and has surged 40% since Trump won the presidential election.

Bitcoin – Trump has vowed to make cryptocurrency more regulation-friendly – hit a new record of US$87,869 ($147,376) and commentators are suggesting the price will head to US$100,000 by the end of the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both closed above 44,000 and 6000 points respectively. The Dow was up 0.69% to 44,293.13 points and S&P 500 gained 0.097% to 6001.35.

Trump’s promises of lower taxes and greater deregulation have propelled the sharemarket generally, despite the inflationary implications of his protectionist policies.

The Nasdaq Composite was flat at 19,298.76 but New Zealand-registered Rocket Lab is soaring on the technology-driven index. Rocket Lab gained 10.75% to hit US$14.98 ($25.15) after sitting at US$3.55 on April 15.

On its first day of trading as a listed company in August 2021 Rocket Lab reached US$14.40. One American analyst has increased the valuation of Rocket Lab by more than 50%, from US$9 to US$15 a share, and is confident the new Neutron rocket will hit the space market next year in what he termed “a disruptive event” in terms of competition.

Rocket Lab founder Sir Peter Beck’s 10.5% stake is now estimated to be worth US$765m ($1.28 billion).

At home, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was up 25c to $37.99; ANZ Bank rose 95c or 2.73% to $35.75; Gentrack gained 27c or 2.63% to $10.52; Skellerup added 9c or 1.89% to $4.85; and Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund increased 11c or 2.16% to $5.21.

Goodson said Fonterra was grinding higher after the dairy co-operative announced a dual-track process for its consumer foods business – a trade sale or an initial public offering (IPO). “The market would sure welcome a quality IPO.”

Infratil was up 11c to $12.29 after reports that Australian Retirement Trust was looking at buying a 12.5% stake in CDC Data Centres for A$16.6b. Infratil has a 48% shareholding in CDC.

Goodson said data centres have been “absolutely hot” lately and if the stake was sold at the price, it would suggest “an upside to the valuation of CDC”.

Ebos Group was up 34c to $37.60; Freightways collected 14c to $10.39; Briscoe Group increased 10c or 2.01% to $5.08; Napier Port gained 7c or 3.14% to $2.30; Vista Group added 7c or 2.41% to $2.98; and Vulcan Steel was up 19c or 2.29% to $8.50.

Other gainers were NZME adding 2c or 1.92% to $1.06; Enprise Group rising 7c or 11.29% to 69c; Third Age Health up 7c or 3.1% to $2.33; and Green Cross Health improving 5c or 6.58% to 81c.

Global marketer a2 Milk was down another 14c or 2.55% to $5.35. Goodson said there was excitement when birth rates in China increased last year but lately the numbers have been weaker and all the excitement has steadily fallen out of the a2 share price.

And the Chinese economic stimulus to date hasn’t gone far enough to lift consumer spirits, with a2 Milk caught up in that.

In the energy sector, Meridian was up 6.5c to $5.945; Mercury gained 9c to $6.74; and Manawa was down 8c to $5.36.

In the property sector, Stride fell 6c or 4.44% to $1.29; Argosy was down 2c or 1.81% to $1.085; Investore decreased 2c to $1.18; and Kiwi was up 2.5c or 2.65% to 97c.

Eroad declined 2c or 2.25% to 87c; Restaurant Brands was down 8c or 2.25% to $3.48; PaySauce decreased 1.5c or 6.52% to 21.5c; AFT Pharmaceuticals shed 5c or 1.89% to $2.60; and Delegat Group eased 12c or 2.4% to $4.88.

Other decliners were Solution Dynamics falling 6c or 5.13% to $1.11; Marsden Maritime Holdings down 7c or 1.97% to $3.48; and Promisia Healthcare shedding 2.5c or 5.88% to 40c.

Channel Infrastructure, up 1c to $1.76, has refinanced its bank facilities, reducing financing costs by 0.6%, increasing the total limit to $435m and extending the length of time to five years.