MARKET CLOSE: NZ shares rise, Xero and Meridian gain while Air NZ drops

New Zealand shares rose, led by Xero after news its chairman is leaving, with Meridian Energy gaining while Air New Zealand dropped

The S&P/NZX 50 Index advanced 3.09 points, or 0.04 percent, to 7,062.36. Within the index, 26 stocks rose, 15 fell and nine were unchanged. Turnover was $100.2 million.

Today, US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said that country's economy is closer to the Federal Reserve's goals, which gives the central bank impetus to begin to reduce the levels of support it has provided over the past decade.

"The market's pretty slow today, low volume again - we're still in that holiday trade mode," said Peter McIntyre, investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners. "There's not a lot of local news but comments from Janet Yellen were eagerly awaited - the US economy's in a very strong position, particularly with regards to employment, and she really indicated the next step for the US is higher interest rates. We've had higher interest rates rebounding through the interest rate market today, that's been a key theme."

Xero was the best performer, up 2.4 percent to $18.75. Chairman Chris Liddell will step down from the board at the end of the week to take up a role in US president-elect Donald Trump's administration. US-based director Graham Smith, a former Salesforce chief financial officer, will assume the chair from the close of business tomorrow, Xero said in a statement. Smith has been on the board for two years and chairs the audit and risk management committee.

"It seems to have coped well with that news, investors have taken losing such an experienced hand at the helm relatively well," McIntyre said.

Meridian Energy rose 2.1 percent to $2.715, after putting out its monthly operating report for December.

"Their hydro volumes really rebounded from a weaker November, they're still getting a bit of churn in the retail market but the second half of 2017 looks pretty firm for them," McIntyre said. "The new Tiwai point contract started on Jan. 1 this year, lake storage is good so it's all rather positive for them."

Vector rose 1.9 percent to $3.23 while Ryman Healthcare gained 0.8 percent to $8.47.

Air New Zealand was the worst performer, down 2.7 percent to $2.18.

"The currency's stronger and oil prices are a wee bit weaker, so it's a bit of a surprise to see Air New Zealand go back," McIntyre said. "They've declined on light volume, I think the market's still waiting for institutional investors to get back from holidays, the retail guys are back."

Z Energy fell 2.1 percent to $7.39, and Trustpower fell 2.1 percent to $4.70.

Warehouse Group dipped 0.4 percent to $2.75. The retailer, which is cutting costs by amalgamating its retail divisions, has hired Baycorp's New Zealand general manager Donna Cooper to run its financial services unit.

(BusinessDesk)