Market Announcements
Market Summary
The $140 million sale of a 20% shareholding in Vista Group by an Australian private equity firm dominated trading on the New Zealand sharemarket as it resumed its upward trend. The S&P/NZX 50 Index quickly fell to 13,018.63 – six leading stocks went ex-dividend – but fired up in the afternoon and closed at 13,133.2, up 58.39 points or 0.45%. There were 84 gainers and 50 decliners on the main board on volumes of 84.8 million share transactions worth $264.9m.
Vista Group, which supplies management software to cinemas worldwide, accounted for nearly a fifth of the activity, with 46.78 million shares worth $140.35m changing hands. Sydney-based Potentia Capital sold its 19.19% holding in dual-listed Vista in a block trade managed by Jarden Group at $3 a share. Vista finished the busy day down 13c or 4.11% to $3.03 after reaching $4 on March 14. Potentia bought in at $2.10 a share 15 months ago and failed to get some of its people on the Vista board. Jeremy Sullivan, investment adviser with Hamilton Hindin Greene, said it’s just a private equity firm doing private equity things. “But $140m worth of shares in a $726m company (by market capitalisation) is a chunky trade.”
In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was steady at 45,271.23 points; the S&P 500 gained 0.51% to 6,448.26; and the Nasdaq Composite increased 1.02% to 21,497.73. Gold climbed to new heights at US$3,550 (NZ$6,042) an ounce, a rise of more than 40% during the past year. Sullivan said the Nasdaq was buoyed by the antitrust court ruling in favour of Google, and the markets were waiting for an expected 25-basis-point cut in interest rates by the Federal Reserve later this month. Alphabet, owner of Google, climbed 9.01% to US$231.10 after the US Federal Court ruling that it didn’t have to sell its Chrome browser, which remains the dominant player in global web traffic. Google still faces legal battles. Later this month, the Justice Department will press its case over alleged monopolies in advertising technology, and Google continues to appeal rulings related to its Play Store practices.
At home, Hallenstein Glasson came off its strong run by falling 28c or 3.08% to $8.82, and Gentrack was down 45c or 4.49% to $9.58. Global marketer a2 Milk was down 2c to $10.17.
Among the stocks that went ex-dividend, Ebos Group was down 3.5c to $31.75, but Sky TV gained 6.5c or 2.12% to $3.13, and Vector increased 12c or 2.67% to $4.61. Meridian Energy, down 3.15c to $5.72 and also ex-dividend, has filled its $350m, 6.5-year green bond, with oversubscriptions of $100m. The bonds will be issued next Thursday with an interest rate of 4.55% a year.
The dual-listed banking groups recovered, with ANZ up 41c to $36.91 and Westpac gained 53c to $41.98. Freightways added 16c to $12.19; Mainfreight was up 98c to $63.88; Chorus gained 15c to $9.876; Vulcan Steel increased 13c to $7.73; and wine exporter Delegat Group climbed a further 13c or 2.97% to $4.51.
Retirement village operator Oceania Healthcare was up 3c or 4.55% to 69c; travel software provider Serko increased 17c or 6.72% to $2.70; and advanced electronics manufacturer Rakon rose 3c or 3.57% to 87c.
Goodman Property Trust gained 3c to $2.14; Property for Industry increased 3.5c to $2.46; and land developer Winton Land was up a further 5c or 2.17% to $2.35. KMD Brands was unchanged at 25c after detailing its transformation plan called Next Level at its investor day. KMD’s share price has fallen from 53c since the start of October last year. KMD, which owns Kathmandu and Rip Curl, said it was sharpening its focus and resetting for sustainable profitability through an organisational restructure, store network review, product innovation and building stronger brands. The reset will cost a minimum $25m.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 50 points higher at 8866.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has clawed back some losses from its worst session in five months, after wobbles in the bond market eased overnight.
The S&P/ASX200 rose 87.7 points, or one per cent, to 8,826.5, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 81.3 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 9,091.4.
The recovery came after a spike in bond yields caused the top-200 to slump 1.8 per cent on Wednesday in its worst session since April 9, in the days after US tariff announcements roiled global markets.
"The ASX200 has rebounded above 8800 today, recovering half of the ground it lost in yesterday's day of carnage that wiped approximately $53 billion from the market cap of the local bourse," IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore said.
"(It) followed a positive session on Wall Street as soft US jobs data and dovish Fed speak doused flames in bond markets threatening to burn out of control."
Nine of 11 local sectors traded higher on Thursday, led by strong rebounds in interest rate-sensitive sectors such as financials (+1.7 per cent), IT stocks (+1.3 per cent), real estate (1.1 per cent) and consumer-facing segments.
The big four banks helped lift the bourse, with CBA, Westpac and NAB all notching gains of two per cent or more, along with investment giant Macquarie Group.
Insurance Australia Group slipped 0.3 per cent to $8.65, after the competition watchdog raised concerns about the insurer's planned takeover of Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia's insurance arm.
Xero helped boost the IT sector, the accounting software company clawing back 4.8 per cent to $157 a share after slipping more than six per cent on Wednesday.
Megaport and data centre play NextDC swung the other way, shedding 6.3 per cent and 2.4 per cent.
The rebound in real estate stocks was supported by strong performances by Goodman Group, Scentre and Vicinity Centres.
Australia's mining sector finished slightly lower by the close, despite solid gains for Fortescue and Rio Tinto as iron ore futures rose above $US104 per tonne, but BHP fell 0.7 per cent.
Gold miners generally faded as the precious metal eased after hitting a fresh peak of $US3,578 ($A5,484) an ounce overnight, before slipping to $US3,537 on Thursday.
Energy stocks steadied after a weak start to the session to close 0.1 per cent stronger, as sector giants Woodside (-0.7) and Santos (+0.3 per cent) largely stood their ground against a three per cent slump in oil prices linked to foreshadowed OPEC production hikes.
Woolworths helped lift consumer staples stocks, clawing back 1.7 per cent to $27.67, but still a long way from its pre-earnings price above $33 a share.
Bunnings owner Wesfarmers drove the push in the consumer discretionary sector with a 2.5 per cent lift to $90.91, but was also reclaiming lost ground after a reporting season sell-down.
The Australian dollar is buying 65.24 US cents, up slightly from Wednesday afternoon's 65.11 US cents, but ultimately trading at the higher end of the range it has held with the greenback since late May.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 rose 87.7 points on Thursday, or one per cent, to 8,826.5
The broader All Ordinaries lifted 81.3 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 9,091.4
The NZX 50 added 7.39 points (0.06%) to 13140.59
Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):
Aussie Broadband Limited
Coles Group Limited
Eagers Automotive Limited
Generation Development Group Limited
Objective Corporation Limited
Pacific Current Group Limited
Viva Energy Group Limited
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA gained 0.8% to 45,621.29, the S&P 500 climbed 0.8% to 6,502.08 and the Nasdaq rose 1% to 21,707.69.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were T. Rowe Price Group Inc TROW surging 5.84%, Williams-Sonoma Inc WSM jumped 5.61%, and Western Digital Corp WDC lifted 5.22%.
The biggest decliners were The Estee Lauder Companies Inc EL which dropped 4.86%, Salesforce Inc CRM fell 4.85%, and NiSource Inc NI lost 4.71%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.3% to 3,765.88 and the Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 2.1% to 2,331.45.
Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index declined 1.1% to 25,058.51.
Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.5% to 42,580.27.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX added 0.2% to 80,718.01.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.4% to 9,216.87. In Europe, shares closed mixed. The Germany's DAX lifted 0.7% to 23,770.33, and the France's CAC 40 slipped 0.3% to 7,698.92
