Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket fell for the third consecutive day yesterday as it waited for the Reserve Bank’s latest view on inflation, interest rates and the economic recovery. After the United States markets were closed for Washington’s Birthday, the S&P/NZX 50 Index’s direction was downwards from mid-morning, closing at 13,031.62 – shedding 86.29 points or 0.66%. The intraday high was 13,136.86 points. There were 47 gainers and 81 decliners on the main board with turnover of 41.7 million shares worth $190.2m.
Market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, declining 92c or 2.51% to $35.68, dominated the trading with $46.82m worth of its shares changing hands. Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had gained 0.28% to 8,962.5 points at 6pm NZ time.
ASB said the monetary policy statement will be pivotal. “It’s the big switch in the narrative in a short space of time – from concern that a stuttering economy meant a lot of excess capacity weighing on inflation to now concerns that recovering demand growth will hit a sluggish economic speed limit, causing inflation to linger too high for too long. “For the Reserve Bank, that means a change in tone to ensuing inflation will be slayed, rather than standing by with an adrenaline syringe for emergency resuscitation,” ASB said. “There will be no lingering hint that interest rates could fall further – the narrative is about when the OCR will start going up.”
Contact Energy held up well when it resumed trading following its surprise capital raise at $8.75 plus the ex-dividend of 16c a share. Contact Energy was down 39c or 4.07% to $9.20 after completing the $450m placement of shares as part of the $525m capital raise to fund renewable energy projects brought forward and to increase balance sheet flexibility for future development. Contact is also making a retail offer to raise up to $75m, with the ability to accept oversubscriptions.
Ebos Group and Infratil joined Fisher and Paykel in leading the market lower, falling 43c, or 1.78%, to $23.74 and 20c, or 1.83%, to $10.74, respectively. Summerset decreased 21c or 1.97% to $10.46; Oceania Healthcare shed 3c or 3.7% to 78c; Synlait Milk declined 3c or 6.12% to 46c; and Tourism Holdings was down 9c or 3.83% to $2.26. Other decliners were T&G Global decreasing 7c or 2.57% to $2.65; Vulcan Steel down 26c or 3.27% to $7.68; Winton Land shedding 4c or 2.02% to $1.94; and Blackpearl Group easing 3c or 2.91% to $1.
A2 Milk continued to climb after its strong first half result, increasing 69c or 6.57% to $11.19. Vista Group rebounded 14c or 8.54% to $1.78; Gentrack was up 18c or 2.63% to $7.03; Serko gained 6c or 2.67% to $2.19; and Sanford added 15c or 2.08% to $7.35.
Goodman Property Trust increased 4c or 3.15% to $1.90 after telling the market it is expecting a $112m, or 2.7%, increase in the valuation of its portfolio to $4.9b, as at the end of March. This would increase net tangible assets by 7c a unit.
Santana Minerals declined 12% or 10.39% to $1.03 after telling the market it has firm commitments from institutional investors to raise A$130m (NZ$152) through a placement of new shares at A90c ($1.05) a share. Santana is also introducing a share purchase plan for eligible shareholders to apply for up to A$24,948 ($29,223) worth of new shares at A90c.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 18 points lower at 8934.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has clutched a second session of gains, led by a strong performance from mega miner BHP, which helped offset weak performances elsewhere.
The S&P/ASX200 edged 21.8 points higher on Tuesday, up 0.24 per cent, to 8,958.9, as the broader All Ordinaries rose 18.7 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 9,182.5.
"With US markets closed overnight for Presidents Day and several Asian markets shut for Lunar New Year, local earnings have taken centre stage - and BHP has comfortably stolen the show," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.
"BHP delivered a blockbuster first-half result, sending its share price up more than 7.5 per cent to a record high of $54.20, before easing back to close 4.7 per cent higher at $52.74."
The move added an extra $11 billion to the miner's market cap, taking it to a valuation of $267 billion.
Only four of 11 local sectors ended the day higher, led by a 1.3 per cent boost to raw materials thanks largely to BHP, as gold miners retreated and other sub-sectors were mixed.
Gold itself eased to $US4,898 (A6,937) an ounce, as US dollar strength and risk-on sentiment weighed on the safe haven.
The heavyweight financials sector traded just below flat as Westpac carved out a 0.3 per cent lift and its remaining big four competitors fell behind.
NAB shares fell 0.4 per cent ahead of its first-quarter results announcement on Wednesday.
Energy stocks dipped 0.4 per cent, tracking with a similar move in oil prices ahead of more US-Iran talks over the latter's nuclear program.
Elsewhere in the segment, coal miners traded lower and uranium stocks were mixed.
Consumer discretionary stocks had a positive day, up 0.5 per cent, with help from JB Hi-Fi after it's share price jumped by roughly one-fifth in two sessions since reporting a 7.4 per cent sales jump in the recent half.
In other earnings news, Seek fell more than three per cent after it reported a $178 million loss, due in part to an impairment on its stake in Chinese jobs platform Zhaopin.
Shares in Baby Bunting Group rocketed more than eight per cent higher after the maternity and baby goods company posted a 44 per cent increase in first-half underlying net profit compared to the prior corresponding period.
The Lottery Corporation, Suncorp, NAB, Mirvac and GrainCorp will hand down interim results on Wednesday.
The Australian dollar is buying 70.62 US cents, down from 70.88 US cents on Monday at 5pm, dipping slightly following the release of the Reserve Bank's February meeting minutes.
"While the board cited stronger activity, resilient consumer spending and persistent price pressures as justification for February's tightening, the absence of a pre-set rate path has kept the currency subdued," Zerocap analyst Emir Ibrahim said.
"Attention now shifts to this week's wage price index and labour market data for confirmation on whether domestic strength is sufficient to sustain the RBA's hawkish bias."
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 rose 21.8 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 8,958.9
The broader All Ordinaries gained 18.7 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 9,182.5
The NZX 50 added 27.20 points (0.21%) to 13058.82
Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
GQG Partners Inc.
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA lifted 0.1% to 49,533.19, the S&P 500 rose 0.1% to 6,843.22 and the Nasdaq gained 0.1% to 22,578.38.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd NCLH surging 12.15%, Southwest Airlines Co LUV jumped 6.16%, and Constellation Energy Corp CEG lifted 5.06%.
The biggest decliners were Genuine Parts Co GPC which dropped 14.56%, Allegion PLC ALLE fell 9.38%, and Leidos Holdings Inc LDOS lost 8.38%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 1.3% to 4,082.07 and the Shenzhen Composite Index fell 1.1% to 2,680.39.
Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index lifted 0.5% to 26,705.94.
Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average declined 0.4% to 56,566.49.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX climbed 0.2% to 83,450.96.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index rose 0.8% to 10,556.17. In Europe, shares closed higher. The Germany's DAX added 0.8% to 24,998.40, and the France's CAC 40 climbed 0.5% to 8,361.46
