MARKET CLOSE: NZ shares gained on earthquake recovery firms

New Zealand shares rose yesterday, led by companies that stand to benefit from earthquake repairs such as Fletcher Building and Metro Performance Glass, while general insurer Tower was the biggest decliner.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 39.98 points, or 0.6%, to 6737.76. Within the index, 19 stocks rose, 27 fell and five were unchanged. Turnover was $109 million.

The magnitude 7.5 quake on Sunday night in the upper South Island cut roads, power and phone lines, disrupted rail and port services and left Wellington's CBD as a ghost town yesterday after Civil Defence warned people to stay at home while buildings were checked for damage. While the late quake was bigger than the February 22, 2011, quake that devastated Christchurch, the most severe damage was limited to smaller centres.

Fletcher, the nation's biggest construction and building materials company, rose about 4% to $10.53. Metroglass rose about 1% to $2.13 and Steel & Tube Holdings, which sells steel building materials, rose 1.3% to $2.27. Tower dropped 7.1% to 79 cents while Tourism Holdings, which operates camper van hire and tourist activities, fell 2.4% to $3.20.

"So far it appears most of the damage is relatively superficial for most companies," said Mark Lister, head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners. "There are definitely some companies that might be more affected. For example, Tower is the biggest loser in the NZX 50, and Tourism Holdings is down - obviously there's the expectation that tourism might take a hit because of what international people see on the news."

"On the other side of the coin, Fletcher Building and Metroglass are up – they're the companies that will be involved in the rebuild," he said.

Among other gainers, SkyCity Entertainment Group rose 2.5% to $3.70, Spark NZ gained 2% to $3.37 and a2 Milk rose 1.9% to $2.13. Orion Health Group gained 1.8% to $2.85.

Mainfreight slipped 0.1% to $18.87 and Freightways dropped 0.8% to $6.38. Dean Bracewell, managing director of courier and information management group Freightways said courier deliveries were happening "largely as per normal" today. Transport and logistics group Mainfreight said rail services in the lower North Island and South Island have been suspended pending track inspections, while Inter-Island rail services have been cancelled until further notice.

Port of Tauranga fell 3.4% to $3.65 after port companies around the country said they expected disruptions from the quake ranging from cancelled Cook Strait ferry sailing to rail lines closed for checking.

Kiwi Property Group gained 0.7% to $1.405 after property companies said they were largely unscathed after the quake. Argosy Property rose 0.5% to $1.01 and Stride Property dropped 0.6% to $1.79.

Abano Healthcare Group rose 2.4% to $8.50 after the company said it has hired Grant Samuel to assess a partial takeover offer from dissident shareholders Anya and Peter Hutson and James Reeves, which the board says is not in the best interests of other investors based on its preliminary view.

(BusinessDesk)