Ryman and Fletcher Lift as NZ Sharemarket Ends Nine-Day Winning Streak

The New Zealand sharemarket was down on Thursday as investors took profit from key listings, although Ryman Healthcare and Fletcher Building generated positive uplifts. The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed down 0.32% or 44.17 points to 13,576.81 after 46 million shares worth $232.8 million were traded. The S&P/NZX 20 index was down 0.29%, closing at 7765.29 points, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 12,980.69 after falling 0.05%. There were 66 gainers on the main board and 77 decliners.

Hamilton Hindin Greene investment adviser Jeremy Sullivan said it was another quiet day on the market. “We actually had an intraday full-time high of 13,677, but have given some of it back a little this afternoon, but you do tend to find a wee bit of profit taking as things like all-time highs start getting mentioned,” Sullivan said.  The market has closed up nine days in a row, a streak which ended yesterday. Sullivan said investors took profit from sectors doing well, and sectors which have not done so well, mainly Ryman Healthcare and Fletcher Building.

Fletcher Building’s share price lifted 3.85% or 13c to $3.51 after 2.6 million shares changed hands on turnover worth $9.3m. Earlier this week, Fletcher Building handed over the keys of the New Zealand International Convention Centre to SkyCity Entertainment Group.

Ryman Healthcare also had a positive day, lifting 2.80% or 8c to $2.94, with 1.4 million shares trading on turnover worth $4m.

Restaurant Brands’ largest shareholder, Finaccess, finally reached 90% of acceptance on its takeover offer, which means it can compulsorily acquire the remaining 10%. “There’s no reason not to accept it in terms of the takeovers code. It’s a done deal, and you might as well get your money sooner rather than later.” Once completed, it will be one of several companies to delist over the past year, but Sullivan is not worried about the state of the market. “I’m sure there’ll be some more listings in the pipeline in due course; we may see a compliance listing or two by the end of the year.”

Elsewhere, Vulcan Steel’s share price lifted 1.80% or 15c to $8.50 on turnover worth $6m, while Infratil closed down 1.05% or 13c at $12.27 on turnover worth $8.3m.

Wall Street stocks advanced on Wednesday (US time) after better-than-expected jobs data soothed concerns about the United States economy, with equity buyers stepping in following the prior session’s retreat. US private sector employment jumped 42,000 in October, ADP said, rebounding from a loss of 29,000 jobs in September, nearly double the amount forecast by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal. The ADP figures are likely to attract renewed attention as it is one of the few economic indicators released in recent weeks amid the US government shutdown and will feed into investors’ perceptions of whether the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again in December. The Institute of Supply Management’s index of services industry activity, another rare data point, came in at 52.4 for October, better than the 50.9 level projected by analysts, which indicates growth.

Source: Business Desk

Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 6 points lower at 8817.

- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Mining stocks have dug Australia's share market out of a two-session losing streak, but the bourse remains under pressure as investor uncertainty lingers.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 gained 26.3 points on Thursday, up 0.3 per cent to 8,828.3, as the broader All Ordinaries rose 27.4 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 9,098.6.

The top-200 surged almost 70 points in early trade, but handed back more than half those gains as momentum waned in the afternoon.

Raw materials stocks rallied 1.4 per cent on the back of gold miners and iron ore giants, while an earnings miss from NAB dragged on the financial sector.

"Mining stocks were the real ballast in the market, with major mining companies up very strongly," Moomoo market strategist Michael McCarthy told AAP.

"And that related to the idea that if we're not going to get rate cuts, it's because growth is better than expected, and if growth is better than expected, the falls we've been forecasting for industrial commodities in particular might not come to fruition."

BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue each gained more than 1.6 per cent, despite iron ore futures continuing their grind lower to $US104.20 a tonne.

Gold stocks caught a bid with Northern Star, Evolution and Newmont charging higher as the precious metal's spot price edged higher to $US3,989 ($A6,124) an ounce.

Copper producers Sandfire and Capstone forged ahead as the base metal continued to recover from a pullback earlier in the week, while rare earths and critical minerals plays remained under selling pressure.

Financials slumped 0.1 per cent as NAB's underwhelming profit result dragged its shares 3.3 per cent lower to $43.06, while Westpac shares fell 1.2 per cent as its third-quarter update on Tuesday continued to weigh.

Investors appeared to play favourites with the big four, as ANZ gained 0.4 per cent and CBA rallied 1.3 per cent to $178.57.

"The perception that has arisen - given Westpac and NAB's reports and the view that overall system growth is higher - means that CBA and ANZ must be outperforming," Mr McCarthy said.

"Now that's an interesting thesis, and we'll find when we hear from ANZ next week as to whether or not that is actually the case, or if analysts are overestimating the growth in financial sector at the moment."

Energy stocks surged 0.8 per cent despite oil prices lingering on par with June lows, as Woodside posted a second day of gains following its investor briefing and Santos edged higher as LNG futures spiked to four-month highs.

Gaming machine supplier Light & Wonder was the top-200's best performer, rocketing more than eight per cent after posting solid profit growth on top of a modest lift in revenue.

At the other end of the scale was James Hardie, which plummeted 12.7 per cent after it was removed from New York finance company MSCI's Australia index.

James Hardie has been under pressure after proceeding with a merger and considering a partial delisting without shareholder approval.

Defence technology stock Droneshield has gone from market darling to bourse whipping boy, tumbling 11.7 per cent on Thursday and down almost 50 per cent from October's record highs, amid concerns of frothy valuations in the sector.

Its recent tumble takes Droneshield's 2025 gains to a more-than-respectable 335 per cent.

In other company news, Domino's Pizza shares jumped 4.7 per cent to $20.04 after securing oversubscribed commitments for $1.1 billion in new debt facilities.

Seven West Media shares slipped 1.8 per cent to 13.8 cents after suffering a first strike on its remuneration report from shareholders.

Looking ahead, Nine Entertainment and Qantas will hold their annual meetings on Friday, and Macquarie will post its results for the recent half.

The Australian dollar is buying 65.07 US cents, up from 64.90 US cents on Wednesday at 5pm.

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 rose 26.3 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 8,828.3

The broader All Ordinaries gained 27.4 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 9,098.6

The NZX 50 Lost -49.26 points (-0.36%) to 13527.55

Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):

Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Limited

Qantas Airways Limited

[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:

U.S. stocks ended lower. The DJIA slipped 0.8% to 46,912.30, the S&P 500 fell 1.1% to 6,720.32 and the Nasdaq fell 1.9% to 23,053.99.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Datadog Inc DDOG surging 23.14%, Texas Pacific Land Corp TPL jumped 10.24%, and APA Corp APA lifted 9.16%.

The biggest decliners were DoorDash Inc DASH which dropped 17.42%, Robinhood Markets Inc HOOD fell 10.82%, and Paycom Software Inc PAYC lost 10.73%.

Asia

Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1% to 4,007.76 and the Shenzhen Composite Index added 1.2% to 2,526.94.

Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 2.1% to 26,485.90.

Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average added 1.3% to 50,883.68.

India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX declined 0.2% to 83,311.01.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.4% to 9,735.78. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX slipped 1.3% to 23,734.02, and the France's CAC 40 declined 1.4% to 7,964.77