Briscoe Shines As NZ Shares Rebound More Than 1.5%

Retailer Briscoe Group provided a bright spot with record annual sales as the New Zealand sharemarket shrugged off Middle East conflict worries yesterday and rebounded more than 1.5%. The S&P/NZX 50 Index climbed throughout the day and closed at 13,293.13, up 158.62 points or 1.52% and reclaiming half of the big fall on Monday. The index had fallen on six of the seven previous trading days after United States and Israel launched missile strikes on Iran. There were 97 gainers and 38 decliners on the main board of 181 stocks with turnover of 30.67 million shares worth $146.5 million.

Jeremy Sullivan, investment adviser with Hamilton Hindin Greene, said the local market was happier. The US markets were mixed and the FTSE and Nikkei indices were positive. “The markets were reading a de-escalation in the Middle East conflict and the oil price,” he said. Brent crude oil had fallen to US$87.37 a barrel at 5.30pm NZ time. Sullivan said: “If we don’t see oil production resuming and the tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz, then the picture could change quite quickly.” Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil producer, said it could restore about 70% of its exports within days by rerouting flows through a pipeline to Red Sea ports. The Japanese Nikkei 225 had risen 2.61% to 55,663.37 points at 6pm NZ time, and the Australian S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.58% to 8,743.3. Britain’s FTSE 100 increased 1.59% to 10,412.24 points, and on Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite were flat after a volatile day on 47,706.51 and 22,697.1 respectively. The S&P 500 was down 0.21% to 6,781.48 points.

At home, Briscoe increased 11c or 2.38% to $4.74 after reporting a 0.9% increase in revenue to $798.83m for the 12 months ending Jan 25. Net profit was down 2.3% to $59.22m and the retailer is paying a final dividend of 10c a share on March 31. Homeware sales were up 1.42% to $496.8m and sporting goods 0.13% to $302.1m. Online sales were now 20.04% of the revenue. Total costs were up 1.19% on the previous year. Briscoe said its new distribution centre in Drury was a transformational investment that will materially improve supply chain capability, inventory flow and efficiency. Fellow retailers Michael Hill increased 1.5c or 2.91% to 53c, and KMD Brands was up 0.5c or 2.22% to 23c.

ANZ Research reported that overall card spending rose 0.6% in February (seasonally adjusted) and is up 4.4% compared with the same month last year. Spending continues to trend higher, with annual growth positive for most sectors. Housing is a soft spot, while lower petrol prices have dragged down annual growth in the motor vehicles and fuel category, but watch this space, ANZ said.

Making strong recoveries were market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare up 78c or 2.05% to $38.65; Freightways increasing 24c or 1.78% to $13.99; Mainfreight gaining 92c to $61.50; and Serko rising 11c or 5.64% to $2.06. In the energy sector, Meridian added 16c or 2.97% to $5.55; Mercury was up 15c or 2.42% to $6.35; and Vector gained 11c or 2.35% to $4.79. Auckland International Airport was up 19c or 2.28% to $8.53; Infratil added 28c or 2.63% to $10.93; a2 Milk gained 16c to $11.51; Fletcher Building increased 9c or 2.71% to $3.41; and Port of Tauranga collected 10c to $7.95. The banking sector was stronger, with ANZ gaining $1.76 or 3.99% to $45.90, and Heartland Group increasing 3c or 2.43% to $1.265. Other gainers were Scales Corp up 17c or 2.84% to $6.15; Vista Group increasing 5c or 2.76% to $1.86; Precinct Properties adding 2c or 1.83% to $1.11; and Santana Minerals improving 2.5c or 2.45% to $1.045. Metro Performance Glass fell 10c or 6.8% to $1.37, Investore shed 3c or 2.79% to $1.045; and Ventia Services was down 18c or 2.63% to $6.66.

Tāiko Critical Minerals went into a trading halt at the request of NZX’s regulatory body NZ RegCo for a discussion over the West Coast Barrytown Mineral Project’s financial model. The mining company last traded at 21.5c. Tāiko said the life-of-mine revenue for the project would be US$3.28 billion (NZ$5.5b), with an operating margin of 57.5%, capital expenditure of US$66m and equity payback of 3.8 years.

Bremworth’s scheme of arrangement with US flooring company Mohawk Industries, which owns another carpet maker Godfrey Hirst, has been extended after the Commerce Commission said it wanted more time for its clearance decision, now April 2. Bremworth was down 2c or 2.82% to 69c.

Source: Business Desk

Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 47 points lower at 8683.

- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has defied a hawkish interest rate outlook to clock a second session of gains, as reports of a record release of crude reserves took the pressure off oil prices.

The S&P/ASX200 rose 50.9 points on Wednesday, up 0.59 per cent, to 8,743.5, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 52.6 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 8,976.8.

Oil prices dipped over the session after the International Energy Agency proposed the largest-ever release of crude reserves.

But worries remain with the Straight of Hormuz route effectively closed as air strikes still rain down on multiple key producer nations.

IEA's 32 member nations, which hold at least 1.2 billion barrels in emergency supplies, are expected to decide on the proposal later on Wednesday.

Sliding oil prices helped the local bourse shrug off a sharp repricing of interest rate expectations, with rates markets now tipping an 80 per cent chance of a hike at next week's Reserve Bank meeting.

"Basically everything is kind of a derivative of oil prices at the moment," Capital.com senior market analyst Kyle Rodda told AAP.

"There is a temptation to try and find some signal in all of this, but a lot of it's probably noise.

"Nevertheless, oil prices moving lower today, that's good for equities across the Asian region."

Miners and banks provided most of the local market's forward momentum, with strong performances from gold stocks and industrial metals.

Gold itself edged higher to $US5,205 ($A7,253) an ounce, boosting the All Ordinaries sub-industry 1.5 per cent, but still under pressure as the oil shock continues to support the greenback.

Fortescue was the best of the mega miners, up 3.7 per cent, playing catch-up with competitors BHP and Rio Tinto, which clocked slimmer gains as iron ore futures topped $US104 a tonne.

Critical minerals producer were strong ahead of Liontown's interim earnings report, now due on Thursday.

Lynas Rare Earths rocketed more than 16 per cent higher after locking in a price floor with a Japanese buyer for a 12 year supply contract extension.

ANZ was the best of the big four banks as the financials sector rose 0.9 per cent, while major insurers IAG and Suncorp continued to rebound from a conflict-related sell off.

Qantas posted a second session of gains to trade at $8.82, but was still more than 11 per cent below its price ahead of the strikes on Iran, and down more than 17 per cent since its first-half results disappointed investors.

The Australian dollar is trading at nearly four-year highs against the greenback, buying 71.74 US cents, up from 70.77 US cents on Tuesday at 5pm.

The Aussie was supported by softening risk sentiment and as markets priced a higher likelihood of an interest rate cut next week.

"Assuming this is a protracted shock and oil prices keep moving higher, that is a risk to inflation," Mr Rodda said.

"And it's a risk that the RBA may have to tighten policy a little bit more, or at least keep policy in restrictive territory for longer than it would otherwise."

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 rose 50.9 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 8,743.5

The broader All Ordinaries gained 52.6 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 8,976.8

The NZX 50 Lost -18.98 points (-0.14%) to 13274.15

Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):

AUB Group Limited

Australian Clinical Labs Limited

Endeavour Group Limited

Inghams Group Limited

Kogan.com Ltd

McMillan Shakespeare Limited

Perpetual Limited

Regis Healthcare Limited

Regis Resources Limited

SRG Global Limited

Super Retail Group Limited

Viva Energy Group Limited

[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:

U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA dropped 0.6% to 47,417.27, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1% to 6,775.80 and the Nasdaq climbed 0.1% to 22,716.14.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were The Mosaic Co MOS surging 10.08%, Oracle Corp ORCL jumped 9.16%, and CF Industries Holdings Inc CF lifted 9.14%.

The biggest decliners were Fair Isaac Corp FICO which dropped 9.83%, The Campbell's Co CPB fell 7.05%, and Conagra Brands Inc CAG lost 6.01%.

Asia

Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lifted 0.2% to 4,133.43 and the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 0.5% to 2,744.02.

Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 0.2% to 25,898.76.

Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average lifted 1.4% to 55,025.37.

India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX slipped 1.7% to 76,863.71.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index declined 0.6% to 10,353.77. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX slipped 1.4% to 23,640.03, and the France's CAC 40 declined 0.2% to 8,041.81