NZX down 3.6% in first half, primary sector saving grace - Market close

The NZX primary sector index is up nearly 20% this year. Photo / Gisborne Herald

The New Zealand sharemarket will enter the second half of the year having underperformed its international counterparts.

The benchmark S&P/NZX 50 rose 0.15% to 12,602.820 points on Monday, with just over $146 million worth of shares changing hands.

Mohandeep Singh, senior research analyst at Craigs Investment Partners, said school holidays had meant “there was not a lot of excitement in the market”.

He highlighted that at the mid-point of the year, unlike overseas indices, the NZX 50 has been caught on the wrong side of the ledger. It was down 3.56% for the calendar year to date at close.

At 5pm, the ASX 200 was up 0.61% for the day, nearing a 5% climb for the year.

Before it opened, the United States benchmark, the S&P 500, was up 5.2% despite what Singh called “all the disasters going on around the world”.

“The US has cracked new highs, and so has Aussie, and we are still battling to get there.

“We’ve continued to lag relative to other markets around the world, which is a little bit surprising given where interest rates are.”

Primary sector

The NZX primary sector index, which contains 15 stocks, was up 1.4%, beating most other indices for the day. It is up over 20% annually, while the broader NZX 50 has gained 6.9% year on year to date.

On Monday, the a2 Milk Company rose 2.62% to $8.63 on high volumes.

ANZ’s Business Outlook Survey, released on Monday, highlighted how much higher sentiment is for agriculture relative to other sectors, especially construction and retail.

“It’s fair to say the agriculture sector is less weighted down by problems than other sectors currently, based on their broader survey responses,” ANZ said.

Singh pointed to Scales Corporation, which he said has been a “quiet achiever” on the exchange so far this year.

The company, which has a large horticulture division, was up 1.63% on Monday to $4.82, and is up 19.9% in the year to date.

“It’s not just meat and dairy. Kiwifruit and apples are having a cracking time of it as well at the moment,” Singh said.

Property

Forsyth Barr analyst Rohan Koreman-Smit published an investor note about Property for Industry on Monday, after the company posted a quarterly update on Friday.

Koreman-Smit noted that the portfolio value lifted about 3% in the second half, the first meaningful uptick after almost three years of declines, and that current developments are ahead of schedule.

He raised his 12-month target price to $2.41. The stock finished the day flat at $2.23.

Investore Property equities rose 0.86% to $1.17.

On Friday, Investore said it had entered into an unconditional agreement to acquire the site of a Bunnings in Grey Lynn for $43m.

In another note, Koreman-Smit said the acquisition was consistent with the company’s strategy to reduce supermarket exposure and secure leases with more fixed rental growth. His target price of $1.26 remained unchanged.

Meanwhile, Argosy Property and Goodman Property fell 1.82% to $1.08 and 1.78% to $1.93, respectively.

Tariff deadline looms

On Sunday in the United States, President Donald Trump said he did not intend to extend the 90-day pause on tariffs beyond July 9, the deadline he set for negotiations to end.

He said countries would be formally notified that trade penalties will take effect unless they reach agreements.

“That will become the market fiasco soon, and that’ll drive the market volatility, no doubt,” Singh said.

“When everyone finds out if they stay on 10% or go back to the original 30%, 40%, 50% or somewhere in the middle. That will be the key thing to watch.”