MARKET CLOSE: NZX50 charts record high as Xero, Trade Me gain; Nuplex rises on guidance

New Zealand shares rose to a fresh record as investors sought better returns from equities in the face of low global interest rates. Xero and Trade Me led the rally, and Nuplex Industries gained after forecasting an increase in 2016 earnings.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index gained 49.24 points, or 0.8 percent, to 6071.21. Within the index, 34 stocks rose, 11 fell and five were unchanged. Turnover was $140.7 million.

Shares rallied across Asia today, with Japan's Nikkei 225 Index up 2.2 percent in afternoon trading and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rising 3.1 percent. That followed gains on Wall Street overnight, which saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average rise 0.5 percent. Investors' risk appetite has picked up since Chinese stocks stabilised after slumping in August and September.

The gain to a record high "shows that buyers are back in control of the local market," said Grant Williamson, a director at Hamilton Hindin Greene. "The gains were pretty much across the board. The market had a strong October and we've had few days of profit taking. Some stocks are really starting to get back up to their all-time highs."

Xero, the cloud-based accounting company, rose 6.3 percent to $17.75, a three-month high. Trade Me, the auction website, 4.4 percent to $3.84.

Nuplex, the specialty chemicals company, rose 1.2 percent to $4.29. Chief executive Emery Severin told shareholders at today's annual meeting in Auckland that annual earnings will rise by as much as 22 percent in 2016, benefitting from last year's restructure, accelerating growth in Asia, and a weaker kiwi dollar.

Chorus rose 1.1 percent to $2.90. The regulated telecommunications network operator is backing the government's proposal to install a similar oversight regime used for lines companies, and wants a detailed re-write of the law which it says can't be fixed by mere tinkering, according to a submission from the company.

Skellerup Holdings rose 3.4 percent to $1.54, SkyCity Entertainment Group rose 3 percent to $4.08 and Metro Performance Glass gained 2 percent to $1.53. Restaurant Brands New Zealand, the fast-food franchise company, fell 1.1 percent to $4.36 and was the biggest decliner on the index.

NZX, the stock market operator, rose 1 percent to 97 cents. NZX released its monthly metrics today, showing the total number of trades rose 1.7 percent to 123,378 in October from the same month a year earlier, while the value increased 49 percent to $4.3 billion. Daily average trades increased 6.5 percent to 5,875, while the daily average value jumped 56 percent to $207 million.

SLI Systems, the online retail search engine developer, rose 5.3 percent to 79 cents after saying it expects first-half sales to rise 29 percent, and has hired a chief revenue officer to drive top-line growth after missing expectations through the latter half of the 2015 financial year.

A2 Milk, the milk marketing company, rose 1.3 percent to 77 cents after prices of dairy products dropped in the GlobalDairyTrade auction overnight. The GDT average winning prices dropped 7.4 percent to US$2,569 in the second straight decline.

Synlait Milk fell 2.2 percent to $2.26 and Fonterra Shareholders' Fund, whose units are entitled to the dividends from the dairy company's ordinary shares, was unchanged at $5.34.

Outside the benchmark index, Blis Technologies rose 7.7 percent to 2.8 cents after the probiotics product maker said it took a $350,000 provision for a speckled discolouration of a lozenge product line in Europe, but has retained its expectations to double annual revenue, saying the product is safe and no other markets are affected. The stock had been halted pending the announcement.

(BusinessDesk)