Market commentaries

WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares snapped a sixday decline yesterday as a revival in global investor optimism boosted growth stocks such as Tourism Holdings, a2 Milk and Pushpay Holdings. Fletcher Building extended its decline.

The NZX/S&P 50 rose 30.76 points, or 0.4%, to 8703.16. Within the index, 20 stocks gained, 23 fell and seven were unchanged. Turnover was $183 million, of which Fletcher accounted for $68.3 million.

New Zealand shares joined a global rally ahead of the Thanksgiving Holiday in the US, with growth stocks the main benefactors after being punished in an increasingly volatile environment. Companies that trade at high pricetoearnings multiples such as Pushpay and Tourism Holdings bore the brunt of that downturn and were among yesterday’s leaders. Tourism Holdings rose 5.3% to $4.77 and Pushpay was up 3.1% to $2.99, both on heavier than normal volumes.

A2 Milk rose 5% to $10.50 after saying China’s current ecommerce retail import policies will remain in place, something its executive team is confident it can manage.

Grant Davies, an investment adviser at Hamilton Hindin Greene, said a2 rallied on the improvement in sentiment, noting that it had done a good job in building its Chinese market.

Synlait Milk rose 3.5% to $8.55 on small volumes. The milk processor faced a setback in its attempts to diversify away from supplying a2 with its Munchkin Grass Fed infant formula, saying it will resubmit its application to the US Food and Drug Administration with extra evidence.

Davies said the delay was unfortunate but Synlait needed to pursue the strategy.

Fletcher Building was the most traded stock, with 14.9 million shares changing hands compared to its 1.3 million 90day average. It fell 2.1% to $4.60, a 14year low.

Mr Davies said there were still some good quality businesses within Fletcher and its weaker earnings forecast would still deliver a reasonable result.

‘‘It’s about separating the wheat from the chaff, so to speak,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s just a question of how long it takes.’’

Meridian Energy fell 0.9% to $3.19 on 2.2 million shares, almost twice its normal volume.

Trade Me rose 0.7% to $5.97 on twice its average volume, extending Wednesday’s gain on news it might face an attractive takeover bid by UK private equity firm Apax Partners. Morningstar Research gives the $6.40 indicative offer a 50/50 chance of success.

Among other companies with turnover of more than 1 million shares, Spark New Zealand slipped 0.4% to $4.14, Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund decreased 0.2% to $4.80, and Precinct Properties New Zealand rose 1.1% to $1.43.

Ryman Healthcare rose 2.3% to $11.50 ahead of today’s firsthalf result, while Kathmandu Holdings fell 1.2% to $2.49 ahead of its annual meeting.

Stride Property slipped 0.5% to $1.87 after reporting a decline in firsthalf distributable profit on smaller rental income and management fees.

Sky Network Television fell 3% to $2.29, the biggest decline on the day.

Trustpower fell 2.6%, or 16c to $6.04 after shedding rights to a 17c interim dividend and 25c special dividend. Z Energy decreased 1.8%, or 11c, to $5.86 after giving up rights to a 12.5c per share dividend.

Outside the benchmark index, Warehouse Group was down 3.2%, or 7c, to $2.09 after giving up rights to a 6c per share dividend.

AFT Pharmaceuticals rose 1.8% to $2.29 after narrowing its first half loss on fatter gross margins.

The Australian sharemarket yesterday pushed off from the depths of recent lows and closed higher for the first time this week due to broadbased gains to the indices’ major sectors.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 48.5 points, or 0.86%, at 5691.3 while the broader All Ordinaries rose 0.84%.

After four consecutive days of losses, Pepperstone head of research Chris Weston said the high volumes traded on Thursday suggested an element of bargain hunting took place.

Energy stocks, which had lost more than 5% for the week before yesterday, lifted on the back of an overnight oil price recovery. —BusinessDesk/AAP

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