MARKET CLOSE NZ shares rise to fresh record, buoyed by new listings

New Zealand shares rose to a new record, ending the week up 1 percent after Meridian Energy and tech start-up GeoOp listed.

The NZX 50 Index rose 4.106 points, or 0.084 percent, to 4,913.832. Within the index, 20 stocks rose, 23 fell and seven were unchanged. Turnover was $133.2 million.

"Overall it's been a good week," said Grant Williamson, a director at brokerage Hamilton Hindin Greene.

"The market is still in a very nice uptrend as we see a good inflow of funds coming into the market."

GeoOp, the tech start-up whose mobile software allows small and medium-sized companies to manage their workforce, ended its second day as a publicly listed company, up 14 percent to $2.50. It sold shares in a private offering for just $1, and listed on the NZX Alternative Market for small-cap companies.

Meridian Energy, the nation's largest energy electricity retailer and generator, rose 0.5 percent $1.095, ahead of the $1 apiece the instalment receipts sold at prior to its market debut on Tuesday.

"Volume is starting to quieten down on that stock now following a burst on the first few days of trading," Williamson said. "Investors will be quite happy with the first week of trading in Meridian, around the $1.09, it is a nice gain to kick things off with."

Rural services firm PGG Wrightsons jumped 4.9 percent to 43 cents in anticipation demand for soft commodities would bolster the fortunes of agricultural companies.

"There has been a lot of interest in rural stocks in recent times, particularly over in Australia, and that is starting to flow through into our market with some good buying interest in PGG Wrightsons," Williamson said.

"There is quite a big appetite for dairy and protein worldwide and that is keeping prices quite high. That is creating a lot of investor interest in the rural sector at the moment and it is quite difficult to get exposure to that sector," he said.

Shares in dairy firm A2 Corp rose 2.9 percent to 70 cents.

The Fonterra Shareholders' Fund slipped 0.4 percent to $6.88. Fonterra Cooperative Group, the world's biggest dairy exporter, said it has built a 6 percent stake in ASX-listed Bega Cheese, signalling its support for a complex battle for control of third tier players in the Australian dairy industry as it rationalises. Australian media has reported Fonterra is looking to build a 10 percent stake in Bega, hiring Goldman Sachs to broker the deal.

Fletcher Building, the biggest company on the NZX 50, slipped 1.6 percent to $9.83 as investors sold their shares for a profit after the stock climbed above $10 to a five-year high yesterday.

Heartland New Zealand, the bank formed from the merger of Canterbury and Southern Cross building societies and Marac Finance, advanced 1.2 percent to 85 cents after it said it's on track to meeting its annual earnings target at the end of the first quarter.

Shares in APN News & Media, which publishes the New Zealand Herald newspaper, closed unchanged at 56 cents after the company said it is seeking clearance from the Commerce Commission to sell its New Zealand Magazines business to German rival Bauer Media Group for an undisclosed sum.

(BusinessDesk)