NZ Sharemarket Rises Nearly 2% For The Week

The New Zealand sharemarket had a frantic end to the week, with Tourism Holdings fielding a renewed takeover bid and leading stocks buffeted by a world index rebalancing. The S&P/NZX 50 Index and the blue-chips were enjoying a solid day but suffered a late fall due to the largest quarterly rebalancing of the MSCI Equity indices. The index closed at 13,244.55, up 38.44 points or 0.29% after reaching an intraday high of 13,244.55. The index rose nearly 2% for the week and is down 1.7% for the year to date. Trading surged to 111.7 million shares worth $637.5 million on the MSCI review, and there were 88 gainers and 55 decliners on the main board.

Auckland International Airport, up 6c to $8.27 on trade worth $115.19, and Contact Energy, gaining 5c to $9.54 on trade worth $83.1m, had their MSCI weightings increased. Summerset was also upweighted, increasing 24c, or 3.08%, to $8.02, with $7.67m worth of shares changing hands. Infratil, shedding 11c to $15.76 on trade worth $115.7m, was down-weighted along with Meridian Energy, gaining 3c to $5.87 on trade worth $80.65m. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, another one down-weighted, had 83.53m shares changing hands and was down 48c to $37.29.

Tourism Holdings rose 45c or 20.45% to $2.65 after the consortium of Australian private equity firm BGH Capital, Luke, and Karl Trouchet lodged the takeover bid at $3.10 a share. The consortium already owns 19.9% of Tourism Holdings, and the Trouchets ran Apollo Tourism & Leisure before it merged with Tourism Holdings in 2022. An earlier bid last year at $2.30 a share was rejected by the Tourism Holdings board, but this time it was advised that shareholders holding a combined 16% were supportive of engagement with the consortium and granting due diligence.  Tourism Holdings told the market it was downgrading its full-year net profit guidance to $40m-$43m, down from $43m-$47m, and that net debt would likely be $460m-$470m, up from below $400m.

The ANZ Business Outlook survey showed confidence lifted 21 points in May, but at plus 10, it was still well down on levels prevailing before the Middle East conflict. Expected own activity rose 6 points to 25.6, and past own activity eased from 16.1 to 14.8. ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence index increased more than 6 points to 86.5 in May, but is still down 21 points from its January peak. The net proportion of households thinking it’s a good time to buy a major household item (the best retail indicator) rose 5 points to minus 20. ANZ said the bounce in consumer confidence appears likely to be related to the small decline in petrol prices this month. The outlook for global oil prices remains very clouded, leading to uncertainty around inflation, interest rates and the labour market.

Other stocks Green Cross Health, which owns Unichem, Life Pharmacies, and The Doctors, increased 6.5c, or 4.53%, to $1.50 after reporting a 4.2% gain in full-year revenue to $54.97m and a 27.7% rise in net profit to $ 20.39m, benefiting from digital enhancements. It is paying a final dividend of 5.5c a share on June 22. Pharmacy revenue was up 2% to $380.2m, and operating profit increased 4% to $22.2m; Medical was up 8% to $165.8m and 33% to $26m. Green Cross, with 413,000 enrolled patients at its 65 medical centres, is starting a public health organisation in July.

Pole monitoring firm ikeGPS, up 1c to $1.16, reported a 5.8% increase in revenue to $26.9m and $7.5m net loss for the 12 months ending March. Subscription revenue was up 33% to $19.2m, and it added 83 new utility and communications customers – its software is deployed in all 50 US states. Used car dealer 2 Cheap Cars, down 1c to 61c, reported a steady annual result, with revenue of $81.7m and net profit of $3.19m, down 3.4%. Trading improved during the second half, and it is paying a final dividend of 2.87c a share in June.

Foley Wines declined 4c or 8.51% to 43c after reporting a 7% decrease in its latest harvest to 8,012 tonnes across its wineries in Marlborough, Martinborough and Central Otago.

Source: Business Desk

Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 36 points lower at 8710.

- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has ended the day roughly where it began, in a cautious session as the US and Iran exchanged strikes despite ongoing ceasefire negotiations.

The S&P/ASX200 slipped 2.3 points on Monday, down 0.03 per cent, to 8,729.4, as the broader All Ordinaries rose 4.8 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 8,969.8.

"Overall, today's session has been a very cautious one, and for good reason," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore told AAP.

"We've had reports the (US-Iran) ceasefire deal seemed to be on the verge of being signed off, then footage emerging over the weekend of what appears to be naval mines floating in the Strait of Hormuz, Israel pushing further into Lebanon, and now there's been more reports of exchange of fire between the US and Iran."

Eight of 11 local sectors traded lower, while energy and materials stocks edged higher and IT stocks rocketed more than five per cent to four-month highs.

BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue all made gains despite iron ore futures falling below $US105 a tonne, down from $US109 a week earlier amid easing steel demand in China.

Gold stocks were broadly higher as the precious metal held its ground near $US4,515 ($A6,287) an ounce.

The energy sector's advance came despite a flat session for segment giants Woodside and Santos, as coal miners pulled ahead.

The heavyweight financials sector trimmed more than 0.3 per cent, as CommBank and ANZ shares dragged.

Australia's banks are facing pressure from slower economic growth, cooling property markets and uncertain investor sentiment, according to Justin Lin, investment strategist at Global X ETFs.

"While CBA has benefited from years of strong domestic capital flows and a premium valuation, investors are beginning to question some of the assumptions underpinning that premium," Mr Lin said.

"Concerns around slower loan growth are increasing as the domestic economy and property market cools."

Real estate trusts fell 0.7 per cent, as the auction market shows signs of cooling after the preliminary clearance rate fell to a six-year low last week.

Consumer-facing stocks lost ground, with staples and cyclicals trimming 0.3 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively.

In company news, Droneshield tumbled more than eight per cent after more than 50 per cent of shareholders voted against the company's remuneration report in a massive first strike.

Pro Medicus outperformed the top-200, rallying more than nine per cent after signing $46 million in new and renewed contracts.

Fashion retailer Cettire rocketed by more than 25 per cent after striking a partnership with Alibaba Group's cross-border e-commerce platform, as it looks to expand its reach in China.

The Australian dollar is buying 71.83 US cents, up from 71.61 US cents on Friday at 5pm.

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 fell 2.3 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 8,729.4

The broader All Ordinaries rose 4.8 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 8,969.8

The NZX 50 added 3.74 points (0.03%) to 13248.29

[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:

U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA gained 0.1% to 51,078.88, the S&P 500 climbed 0.3% to 7,599.96 and the Nasdaq rose 0.4% to 27,086.81.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were MGM Resorts International MGM surging 16.03%, CDW Corp CDW jumped 12.42%, and Datadog Inc DDOG lifted 12.21%.

The biggest decliners were Cboe Global Markets Inc CBOE which dropped 9.76%, Qualcomm Inc QCOM fell 8.75%, and Constellation Energy Corp CEG lost 7.67%.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3% to 4,057.74 and the Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 0.8% to 2,783.83.

Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 0.9% to 25,398.18.

Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.9% to 66,934.33.

India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX slipped 0.7% to 74,267.34.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index fell 0.7% to 10,338.95. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX fell 0.4% to 25,003.04, and the France's CAC 40 dropped 0.4% to 8,146.59