Market close: NZX 50 ekes out gain as Port of Tauranga, Ryman, Fletcher rise

New Zealand shares rose, led by Port of Tauranga, the commodity port benefiting from dairy and logs. Fletcher Building rebounded, while retirement home operators Ryman Healthcare and Summerset Group were at record closes.

The NZX 50 Index rose 2.8 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4432.97. Within the index, 21 stocks rose, 13 fell and 16 were unchanged. Turnover was $94.8 million.

Port of Tauranga rose 3.2 percent to $14.40. The company gained clearance to dredge and deepen its facilities at Tauranga in March, which will ultimately allow for larger ship sizes to carry the logs, dairy products and containers across its wharves.

"Investors have asked, 'how do you get exposure to dairy?' That's one of the ways," says James Smalley, client adviser at Hamilton Hindin Greene. Logs over the wharves also stoke activity.

Fletcher, the biggest company on the NZX 50, gained 1.9 percent to $8.76 as it extended its climb off recent lows.

Mr Smalley says the company has to find earnings growth in Australia, which has been "a millstone around their neck", including the dilutionary effects of equity funding.

Ryman, the retirement village operator, rose about 1 percent to $5.14, record closing high. Rival Summerset Group reached its high yesterday and held at $2.74 today.

"It's a sector that's got a lot of interest at the moment," Mr Smalley says.

Shares in Telecom fell 2.4 percent to $2.41 after the country's biggest phone company said it would stick with Yahoo! as an email service provider after a major review following widespread hacking of its customers.

Xero, the cloud-based accounting software maker, fell 1.5 percent to $11.15 after it said its annual loss will be south of $15 million, with sales doubling to $39 million in the 12 months ended March 31.

Power companies Contact Energy and TrustPower gained 0.7 percent to $5.49 and 0.5 percent to $7.80, respectively, after state-owned rival Mighty River Power published its prospectus for a partial float and listing at an indicative price range of between $2.35 and $2.80 a share.

"Investors are seeing the multiples they are pricing MRP at and thinking Contact looks pretty good," Mr Smalley says.

Stocks offering decent dividend yields also gained. Property for Industry rose 2.7 percent to $1.35, Goodman Property Trust rose 1.9 percent to $1.08, Precinct Properties rose 1 percent to $1.05 and Kiwi Income Property Trust rose 0.9 percent to $1.17.

(BusinessDesk)