New family-friendly policies announced in China boosted shares in infant formula maker a2 Milk on Friday.
Global marketer a2 Milk surged more than 7% on new China family policy, while the New Zealand sharemarket finished a volatile week with a strong bounce.
Led by a2 Milk, the S&P/NZX 50 Index picked up in the afternoon and closed at 12,266.25, gaining 57.2 points or 0.47%. The index was down 1% for the week and has fallen 6.4% for the year to date.
Volumes were again solid with 36.26 million shares worth $160.45m changing hands.
Infant milk formula supplier a2 Milk increased 62c or 7.02% to $9.45 after Chinese government agencies announced support for families having babies and therefore increasing the birth rate. The support included improved maternity leave and childcare assistance.
Then the Inner Mongolian capital city of Hohhot announced cash payments for families having children.
“This was all positive for a2 Milk,” said Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management.
“Any stock in the region exposed to the stimulus package has gone up.”
China Feihe had risen 14.67% to HK$6.80 ($1.53) and China Mengnui Dairy Co was up 8.04% to HK$19.62 on the Hong Kong exchange.
Meanwhile in the United States, the S&P 500 went into correction territory after falling 1.39% to 5521.52 points – more than 10% lower than the February 19 close of 6144.15. The S&P 500’s decline represents a loss of US$5 trillion ($8.7t) in market value.
The S&P 500 has logged a correction 56 times since 1929, and only 22 times morphed into bear markets, defined as a fall of more than 20% from the most recent record highs.
It was another weak day on Wall Street over US trade policy uncertainty and tariffs, this time on European wine. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.3% to 40,813.57 points and the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.96% to 17,303.01.
Back home, retirement village operators Ryman Healthcare increased 7c or 2.46% to $2.91, and Summerset was up 18c to $11.68.
Solly said activity in the sector over the past two months has not been as bad as some people thought, so there’s a little bit of recovery in the retirement village space.
Residential developer Winton Land gained 4c or 2.08% to $1.96; Serko increased 18c or 4.81% to $3.92 on a broker upgrade, Vista Group continued to rally, improving 20c or 5.26% to $3.88; Blackpearl Group added 4c or 5.63% to 75c; and Santana Minerals collected 2.5c or 4.17% to 62.5c.
Sanford increased 17c or 3.66% to $4.82; Channel Infrastructure was up 4c or 2.07% to $1.97; and wine exporters Foley Wines gained 2c or 3.17% to 65c and Delegat Group 5c to $4.65 on the latest tariff news.
Infratil was up 6c to $10.16 after telling shareholders in a newsletter that despite the current share price, its 10-year shareholder return remained strong at 17.4%, against the rolling target of 11-15% a year.
The utilities investor said its share price has not been immune to the sell-offs impacting global markets, with the share price discount to net asset value gap growing.
The share price weakness may reflect industry uncertainty around key portfolio areas – New Zealand’s economic outlook (One NZ), hyperscale demand for AI deployments (CDC), and US renewables (Longroad Energy).
Infratil said with strong momentum across the portfolio and exciting developments ahead, 2025 is shaping up to be another significant year.
One NZ (formerly Vodafone) remained on track to meet the middle point of its guidance of $580m-$620m for the 2026 financial year.
Spark declined 5c or 2.26% to $2.16; Mainfreight shed 50c to $67; Hallenstein Glasson was down 24c or 2.97% to $7.85, PGG Wrightson decreased 9c or 4.5% to $1.91; Bremworth fell 3c or 4.69% to 61c; and Goodman Property Trust eased 4.5c or 2.28% to $1.925.
Metro Performance Glass, up 0.003c or 5.26% to 6c, is considering an earlier capital raise as Australian private equity firm Crescent Capital Partners continues to show an interest in taking over the company.
The Metro directors have rebuffed the conditional takeover proposal, saying a merger between Metro Glass and Viridian New Zealand businesses would not gain Commerce Commission clearance.
Vital, unchanged at 24c, told the market that the Takeovers Panel has ordered Empire Technology to pay the $247,036 takeover expenses invoiced by Vital.