Market close: shares gain - Ryman, Trade Me rise, Xero falls 7.4%

New Zealand shares rose, pushing the NZX 50 Index to a six-week high, as retirement village operator Ryman Healthcare edged up to a new record and auction website Trade Me rose. Xero fell from a record high.

The NZX 50 climbed 30.394 points, or 0.7 percent, to 4523.691, the highest close since May 24. Within the index, 28 stocks rose, 14 fell and eight were unchanged. Turnover was a lower-than-average $78 million.

The NZX 50 peaked in May before sliding to a 15-month low in June and has now resumed its ascent.

"Some of the core stocks have been bouncing off their lows of a few weeks ago," says Nigel Scott, an adviser at Craigs Investment Partners.

The market had been consolidating after digesting a raft of issuance including Mighty River Power and in the face of volatility in offshore markets and lower liquidity at home, he says.

Investors are now looking ahead to the earnings season for June 30 balance date companies.

Ryman gained 0.9 percent to a record close of $6.80. In the past year they have gained more than 90 percent.

Rival retirement village operator Summerset Group gained 3 percent to $2.97, building on gains the previous day when it said it sold 23 percent more occupation rights in the second quarter than the year-earlier period.

Trade Me, which reached a record in May before sliding, gained 2.4 percent to $4.80.

Xero, the cloud-based accounting company, fell 7.4 percent to $17.40. It is still up 147 percent this year. Despite giving back some of its recent gains, it's market cap is still above the $2 billion mark it passed late last week.

"There were sellers on the day," Mr Scott says. "It is the nature of stocks trading at very high multiples and it has a phenomenal amount of expectations built into its price."

Shares in Chorus and Telecom rose 1.1 percent to $2.68 and 0.9 percent to $2.30, respectively, after Communications Minister Amy Adams sought feedback on a proposal to revamp the Telecommunications Service Obligation on the two companies to provide certain services for free.

Retailers were mixed after government figures showed spending on electronic cards rose faster than expected in June, driven by petrol and hospitality.

Warehouse Group gained 0.3 percent to $3.79, outdoor equipment chain Kathmandu jumped 8 percent to $2.70 and fast food chain Restaurant Brands was unchanged at $2.89.

Clothing chain Hallenstein Glasson fell 0.4 percent to $4.98 and children's clothing retailer Pumpkin Patch dropped 1.2 percent to 81 cents.

Michael Hill International was unchanged at $1.33 after the jewellery chain reported a 6.8 percent gain in annual sales in what it described as a "challenging environment".

Fisher & Paykel healthcare, which gets more than 50 percent of its revenue in US dollars, gained about 2 percent to $3.60 as the kiwi held around 78 US cents, down from above 86 cents in April.

Consistency in the currency "builds a little bit of confidence", Mr Scott says.

Infratil, which co-owns the Z Energy petrol chain slated for a listing later this year, rose 0.4 percent to $2.33.

Units in the Fonterra Shareholders' Fund fell 0.1 percent to $7.37 after Fonterra scaled back its guaranteed milk price for farmers in a pilot scheme after being overwhelmed by demand.

Some 328 farmers had offered to supply 37 million kgMS worth $259 million at the guaranteed price, more than double the 15 million kgMS offered, worth $105 million.

(BusinessDesk)