Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket had a fluctuating day on Tuesday, and investors are closely watching the latest annual meeting season for encouraging trading updates. The S&P/NZX 50 Index traded in a range of 13,305.66 and 13,391.11, and closed at 13,377.85, up 32.89 points or 0.25%. The index has now gained more than 2% for the year. There were 88 gainers and 48 decliners on volumes of 39.1 million share transactions worth $128 million.
Meridian Energy was up 11c or 1.89% to $5.92, and Property for Industry gained 1c to $2.46. Fletcher Building, Steel & Tube, Michael Hill and Winton Land are hosting the next annual meetings. In the United States, the major indices again hit record highs as investors welcomed signs that the 20-day US government shutdown could soon end and that trade tensions between Washington and Beijing were easing. Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index was near its all-time high, having gained 0.66% to 9,091.1 points at 6pm NZ time.
Infratil was up 12c to $12.49; Contact Energy gained 15c to $9.30; Briscoe Group recovered 7c to $5.11; ANZ Bank increased 61c to $42.29; and Eroad added another 5c or 2.78% to $1.85. Scott Technology, with $170m worth of forward work and net debt of $12.3m, increased 33c or 11.96% to $3.09 after reporting an 84% rise in net profit to $14.21m for the year ending August. Revenue was steady at $275.27m, and operating earnings (ebitda) was a record $31.5m, up 19%. Scott said second-half revenue growth of 13% offset a softer first half of the financial year, and it benefited from higher margin contracts. Scott, forecasting revenue of $530m by 2030, is paying a final dividend of 5c a share on Nov 19.
Vector, up 1c to $5, increased electricity connections 1.2% to 634,269 for the year ending September, though new connections declined 7% in the final three months compared with the same period last year. Electricity volume distributed was up 1.3% to 2460GWh.
Among the decliners were Ebos Group down 34c to $28.30; Serko decreasing 9c or 3.1% to $2.81; AFT Pharmaceuticals falling 18c or 5.57% to $3.05; Tourism Holdings easing 9c or 3.52% to $2.47; and Rakon down 3c or 3.41% to 85c. Being AI continued to climb despite a trade with caution warning from NZ RegCo’s market surveillance unit. Being was up 1.8c or 10% to 19.8c, after sitting at 4c in mid-August. NZ RegCo said it acknowledged the limited volume of shares traded but is concerned that the price move may not be justified. A price inquiry was issued on Oct 7 when Being reached 10c, and Being confirmed that it was complying with continuous disclosure obligations.
Metro Performance Glass was up 0.001c to 4.7c after Viridian NZ withdrew its takeover offer. Metro said that with the completion of the recapitalisation and new three-year banking package, it can now focus on the continued turnaround of the business.
Comvita, unchanged at 76c, released a statement from co-founder Alan Bougen confirming that he is leading a group of shareholders and other interested parties with the common purpose of opposing the proposed takeover by Florenz. The statement said the group was intending to formulate and propose an alternative funding proposal that “we believe will be superior to the Florenz bid”. A special meeting will be held on Nov 14 for shareholders to vote on the scheme of arrangement. The Comvita board continues to unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favour of the scheme with Florenz in the absence of a superior proposal.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 37 points higher at 9057.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's share market has finished higher after a weak start, with a late rally for the banks counterbalancing a mining sector slump.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 gained 36.6 points on Monday, up 0.41 per cent to 9,031.9 as the broader All Ordinaries rose 31.4 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 9,324.6.
The positive finish came after a morning dip as gold miners sold off, but a surge in financial stocks after Asian markets opened was enough to help the top-200 close above 9000 points for the third time in history.
"So it's a rotation out of mining stocks, after that sector has outperformed and run pretty hard," Pepperstone head of research Chris Weston told AAP.
"And we're seeing a bit of love back into the financials again and some of the REIT (real estate investment trust) stocks."
Nine of 11 local sectors ended the day higher, led by financials (+1.5 per cent), real estate (+1.1 per cent) and IT stocks (+0.9 per cent).
Gold miners sold off dramatically after leading the raw materials segment to multiple records the week before, as the spot price eased to $US4,259 ($A6,548) an ounce from nearly $US4,380.
Shares in Northern Star, Evolution and Newmont tumbled between 3.6 per cent and 5.7 per cent.
BHP was sluggish, down 1.1 per cent as iron ore prices continued to consolidate around $US105 a tonne, while competitors Fortescue and Rio Tinto traded flat.
Rare earths and critical minerals miners were mixed ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Mr Albanese is expected to request a price floor on critical minerals to ensure the viability of new projects.
Lynas Rare Earths rallied more than six per cent, Iluka Resources swung a similar amount in the opposite direction, and lithium plays Pilbara Minerals and Liontown edged higher.
Commonwealth Bank surged more than two per cent to $172.70, leading the big four higher and helping the financials sector to its highest-ever close at a combined value of almost $950 billion.
Elsewhere in the segment, major insurers were strong and buy-now, pay later provider Zip Co gained 4.5 per cent after upgrading its projected US transaction values.
Consumer discretionary stocks edged 0.1 per cent higher despite shares in Autobarn owner Bapcor nosediving to 10-year lows after revealing "poor operational practices" would cut a $12 million hole in its bottom line.
Energy stocks pushed 0.4 per cent higher with decent performances in oil, gas and coal producers, while uranium plays sold off.
Deep Yellow was the top-200's worst performer, tanking almost 19 per cent after announcing the sudden departure of boss John Borsho.
The Australian dollar is buying 65.07 US cents, up from 64.76 US cents on Friday at 5pm, as fears softened around US-China trade stoush over rare earths and key technology exports.
ON THE ASX:
The S&P/ASX200 rose 36.6 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 9,031.9
The broader All Ordinaries gained 31.4 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 9,324.6
The NZX 50 Lost -20.09 points (-0.15%) to 13324.87
Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):
Audinate Group limited
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited
Cleanaway Waste Management Limited
Judo Capital Holdings Limited
MyState Limited
Region Group
Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):
GQG Partners Inc.
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA added 1.1% to 46,706.58, the S&P 500 lifted 1.1% to 6,735.13 and the Nasdaq rose 1.4% to 22,990.54.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Expand Energy Corp EXE surging 6.07%, Super Micro Computer Inc SMCI jumped 5.48%, and The Trade Desk Inc TTD lifted 5.03%.
The biggest decliners were AppLovin Corp APP which dropped 5.53%, Seagate Technology Holdings PLC STX fell 4.88%, and Oracle Corp ORCL lost 4.86%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 0.6% to 3,863.89 and the Shenzhen Composite Index climbed 1% to 2,420.44.
Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 2.4% to 25,858.83.
Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average climbed 3.4% to 49,185.50.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX rose 0.5% to 84,363.37.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index lifted 0.5% to 9,403.57. In Europe, shares closed higher. The Germany's DAX gained 1.8% to 24,258.80, and the France's CAC 40 lifted 0.4% to 8,206.07
