Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket, flat for most of the day Friday, was again helped by a late rise, while offshore investors began questioning the startling run in semiconductor stocks. The S&P/NZX 50 sprang into life during the brokers’ matching session and closed at 13,161.97, a gain of 60.36 points or 0.46%. The index declined more than 0.6% for the shortened week. There were 60 gainers and 70 decliners on the main board, and turnover reached 42.1 million shares worth $197.1 million.
A third of the trading involved seafood exporter Sanford, with $64.2m worth of shares changing hands following a block sale. Sanford declined 21c or 3.83% to $7.21 after Ngāi Tahu Investments sold 8.97m or 9.6% of its shares at $7.15 a share. The South Island iwi will continue to hold a 10.3% shareholding in Sanford.
There was little in the way of big movements on the local market – except Ebos Group rebounding 61c or 3.13% to $20.11. Market leader Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 34c to $37.18; Mainfreight collected 70c to $63.21; Spark recovered 3c to $1.87; and Goodman NZ added 5c or 2.49% to $2.06. NZME increased 3c or 2.68% to $1.15; Pacific Edge was up 2c or 7.14% to 30c; and Scott Technology gained 5c or 2% to $2.55. Vulcan Steel was down 14c or 2.3% to $5.95 – it was as high as $9.14 in early October 2024 – Vista Group decreased 5c or 2.2% to $2.22, and Ryman Healthcare shed 4c or 1.75% to $2.25. Takeover target Tourism Holdings declined 8c, or 3.14%, to $2.47, well below the $3.10 per share bid. Serko was down 4c or 2.56% to $1.52; Synlait Milk shed 2c or 4.6% to 41.5c; Radius Residential Care fell 1.5c or 3.75% to 38.5c; and South Port NZ decreased 20c or 2.23% to $8.75.
Infratil was up 22c to $15.42 after completing a $200m bookbuild of capital bonds, including $50m in oversubscriptions, maturing on June 15, 2057, with an initial interest rate of 5.5% per annum.
Meridian Energy, unchanged at $5.91, has received the fast-track panel’s backing, in a draft decision, for easing access restrictions on Lake Pūkaki hydro storage in the Mackenzie Basin for a three-year period. Meridian sought approval to access water stored between 518 and 513 metres above sea level, before the point where Transpower estimates a 4% risk of an electricity shortage. If the draft decision is confirmed, Meridian proposes to treat half of the five metres of contingent storage as only accessible when there is a heightened risk to security of supply during the remainder of the year.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA lifted 1.7% to 51,561.93, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 7,584.31 and the Nasdaq slipped 0.1% to 26,830.96.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Blackstone Inc BX surging 7.55%, Humana Inc HUM jumped 6.80%, and Robinhood Markets Inc HOOD lifted 6.61%.
The biggest decliners were Ciena Corp CIEN which dropped 13.59%, Broadcom Inc AVGO fell 12.56%, and Micron Technology Inc MU lost 7.57%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.6% to 4,057.78 and the Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 0.4% to 2,801.25.
Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index slipped 1.5% to 25,253.40.
Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.4% to 67,470.69.
India shares ended flat. The BSE SENSEX was unchanged at 74,360.01.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index rose 0.3% to 10,360.32. In Europe, shares closed mixed. The Germany's DAX gained 0.6% to 24,944.95, and the France's CAC 40 was unchanged at 8,244.29
