Market Announcements
Market Summary
The New Zealand sharemarket rose on Monday as investors prepared for a burst of earnings reports over the coming weeks. The benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.52% to 12,911.86, with 29.8 million shares changing hands worth over $105.5. Volumes were subdued as the market prepared for earnings season, which kicks off today with PGG Wrightson reporting full-year earnings.
Infratil continued its solid run since mid-June, gaining 1.77%. The infrastructure investor traded at under $10 as recently as April. Metro Performance Glass shares fell by a cent to 4 cents after the glass supplier unveiled its plan to shore up its finances and secure new banking facilities The company has agreed a deal with Amari Metals for the latter to take a 51% stake in the company following its proposed recapitalisation. The equity raise combines an $8.9m pro-rata rights offer with an additional placement to Amari Metals of up to $15m. Both tranches are priced at 3 cents per share (cps). Metroglass said an independent report by Grant Samuel concluded there were “no viable alternatives”.
Also on the takeover front, Vital’s board urged investors to accept Tait Communication’s takeover offer, warning the deal could collapse if the 90% minimum acceptance condition is not met before the mid-September deadline. In June, Tait Communications, a Christchurch-based critical communications systems provider, made a formal offer to purchase NZX-listed Vital for 45cps. On Friday, the board reiterated its unanimous recommendation, urging shareholders to accept “without delay”. Vital shares fell 3.3% to 44c, having traded above the offer price towards the end of last week.
Eroad continued its run from last week. The share price for telematics and fleet management rose to a three-year high after the Government announced it would transition the light vehicle fleet to road user charges.
Source: Business Desk
Australian Market Report
Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 20 points lower at 8812.
- close [Morningstar with AAP]: Australia's materials sector has posted a sixth straight session of gains, helping the local bourse hit a new intraday record.
The S&P/ASX200 finished Monday up 37.7 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 8,844.8, after tapping a new high of 8,852.3, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 41 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 9,117.6.
It was a quiet start to a huge week, ahead of a Reserve Bank interest rate decision, key labour data, reams of company earnings and US inflation figures due before Friday, IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore said.
"By and large, a good day in terms of getting off to a steady start for the ASX200, lithium miners have been on fire and iron ore miners continue to do well," he told AAP.
"That rotation from the banks into the miners, which started in late June, is continuing."
Eight of 11 local sectors closed higher, led by a 1.6 surge in the raw materials sector, which has rallied almost seven per cent in six sessions.
Iron ore prices rose to about $US102.60, their highest levels since April, pushing large-cap miners BHP, Fortescue and Rio Tinto up between 1.5 per cent and three per cent higher.
Lithium miners Pilbara Minerals (up 19.7 per cent) and Liontown Resources (up 18.3 per cent) led the top-200 with double-digit share price gains after a major battery manufacturer in China suspended operations at a key mine over a permit issue.
Goldminers were mixed after futures in the precious metal eased after spiking to $US3,500 ($A5,360) per ounce on Friday. Spot gold is trading at $US3,424 ($A5,250) an ounce.
Financials also helped lift the bourse, pushing 0.4 per cent higher as ANZ, CBA and Westpac all notched more than one per cent gains. CBA is trading at $178.60 per share.
Consumer discretionary stocks sold off, down 1.6 per cent as JB Hi-Fi plummeted eight per cent to $108.26 after its strong results were overshadowed by the earlier-than-expected exit of long-standing CEO Terry Smart.
Consumer staples, on the other hand, rose one per cent with strong performances from Woolworths and Coles, which lifted more than 1.4 per cent each to $31.98 and $20.93 respectively.
IT stocks were heavy, shedding 0.7 per cent as TechnologyOne and Xero sold off.
Health care stocks staged a modest rebound, up 0.6 per cent as biotechnology giant CSL reclaimed 1.1 per cent to trade at $263.82 after falling 3.3 per cent in the previous two sessions over US pharmaceutical tariff fears.
The Australian dollar is buying 65.24 US cents, roughly flat with 65.25 US cents on Friday at 5pm.
While all eyes will be on the Reserve Bank's cash rate decision on Tuesday, earnings season will continue on the sidelines with Seven West, SGH and tracking app Life360 set to report results.
The Commonwealth Bank, AGL, Evolution Mining, Treasury Wines, Suncorp, IAG, Tesltra, Cochlear and Origin Energy will follow later in the week.
ON THE ASX:
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Monday gained 37.7 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 8,844.8
The broader All Ordinaries rose 41 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 9,117.6
The NZX 50 Lost -0.60 points (0.00%) to 12911.26
Overseas Market Report
[Morningstar with Dow Jones]:
U.S. stocks ended lower. The DJIA dropped 0.5% to 43,975.09, the S&P 500 declined 0.3% to 6,373.45 and the Nasdaq fell 0.3% to 21,385.40.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were TKO Group Holdings Inc TKO surging 10.23%, Albemarle Corp ALB jumped 7.00%, and Electronic Arts Inc EA lifted 5.06%.
The biggest decliners were Intuit Inc INTU which dropped 5.70%, The Hershey Co HSY fell 4.86%, and EPAM Systems Inc EPAM lost 3.89%.
Asia
Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lifted 0.3% to 3,647.55 and the Shenzhen Composite Index rose 1.4% to 2,251.72.
Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 0.2% to 24,906.81.
Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei Stock Average climbed 1.9% to 41,820.48.
India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX added 0.9% to 80,604.08.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.4% to 9,129.71. In Europe, shares closed lower. The Germany's DAX declined 0.3% to 24,081.34, and the France's CAC 40 dropped 0.6% to 7,698.52
