Chinese markets kicked off their return to work with a hiss and a roar.
Gold mining minnow Uvre lists on the NZX.
New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index eked out a small gain as the NZX led its own market higher after winning a third new listing in a month, with Australian junior miner Uvre keen on getting more exposure on this side of the Tasman.
That was in a broadly stronger trading session across Asia as Chinese markets returned from the Golden Week holiday, playing catch-up to some of the artificial intelligence-driven gains from Advanced Micro Devices’ supply deal with OpenAI, despite growing unease about the sector’s frothy valuations.
The local bourse spent much of the day in the red, with a raft of companies including Freightways, Property for Industry and Scales Corp coming off the boil having entered toppy territory where some technical analysts predict they’re ripe for a turn.
And the yield on New Zealand’s benchmark 10-year government bond fell to a 13-month low as the Crown’s annual accounts showed Christopher Luxon’s administration managed to eke out a dip in spending as a proportion of gross domestic product with net government debt unchanged relative to the economy, if not gross debt.
The NZX50 edged up 2.38 points to 13,570.86, with 23 stocks gaining, 17 declining and 10 unchanged. Turnover across the main board was $157.5 million, with Fisher & Paykel Healthcare accounting for $21.4 million as it nudged up 0.1% to $37.30.
Markets across Asia were broadly stronger as China returned from the Golden Week holiday, with the Shanghai Composite up 1.2% in late trading, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 index climbed 1.3%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index was up a more tempered 0.1%.
NZX led New Zealand’s benchmark index higher, rising 4.2 % to $1.48 after the stock market operator attracted its third new listing in the past month, with ASX-listed junior miner Uvre saying it will join New Zealand’s stock market with a secondary listing on Oct 16.
Manuka Resources, the parent of would-be ironsands miner Trans-Tasman Resources, took up a secondary listing last week and was up 1.4% at 7.5 cents today, while software firm Locate Technologies – which is running a Bitcoin treasury strategy – plans to shift its listing to the NZX in November. Locate was up 2.6% at 7.8 Australian cents in late trading on the ASX, while Uvre was unchanged at 18.5 Australian cents.
Ryman Healthcare rose 3.6% to $2.91 after reporting a faster pace of quarterly growth in its sales of occupation rights, albeit still down from the record September quarter of the prior year. The retirement village operator said its occupation rights sales rate is tracking ahead of the forecast 1100-to-1300 for the year.
Retailers were broadly stronger after ANZ Bank New Zealand card spending figures showed a pickup in consumption last month, with Hallenstein Group Holdings up 1.8% at $9.55 and Briscoe Group advancing 1% to $5.30, while KMD Brands was unchanged at 29.5 cents.
“Apart from the impact of lower petrol prices, more positive trends are emerging in card spending,” ANZ Bank NZ chief economist Sharon Zollner said in a note. “Most sectors have positive and accelerating annual growth – though it’s important to bear in mind that spend is a mix of volume and price movements, and inflation is up.”
Tourism Holdings, which released its climate statement today, fell 2.2% to $2.68 with the ANZ figures showing spending on car rentals was one of two sub-categories to report a decline in spending last month in the non-retail tourism and recreation group, which was the fastest growing sector tracked by the bank.
Air New Zealand rose 0.8% to 60.5 cents, with the ANZ figures showing a 1.2% monthly increase on airline spending. Auckland International Airport increased 0.6% to $8.05.
Freightways posted the biggest decline on the day, falling 2.9% to $13.48. The courier operator hit an all-time high last week and has been drifting lower after climbing above a reading of 70 on the relative strength index, a level where technical analysts often view an asset as poised to fall.
Among other companies falling from a reading above 70 on a relative strength basis, Property for Industry declined 2.7% to $2.55, Scales Corp dropped 2.1% to $5.72 and Fletcher Building fell 1.8% to $3.35.
Vista Group International declined 1.6% to $2.99 on a bigger volume than usual, with 1.3 million shares changing hands, after the cinema analytics firm’s target price was trimmed 14 cents to $3.81 by Forsyth Barr analysts.
The analysts kept their ‘outperform’ rating on the stock based on the potential upside over the medium term, but said a weaker box office was weighing on the immediate outlook.
“Vista has highlighted that securing a material enterprise win would support its FY25 guidance of 1,600-plus cloud and digital sites live,” Forysth Barr analysts James Lindsay, Will Twiss and Georgio Toulis said in a note. “The pending announcement of this marquee win, which has not yet been made, would likely ease investor concerns over revenue phasing.”
The kiwi dollar clawed back more of yesterday’s losses, trading at 58.01 US cents from 57.76 cents at 7am and 57.48 cents yesterday.
Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year government bond fell 6 basis points to 4.13% - fractionally above the 4.12% yield on the US equivalent – after New Zealand Debt Management’s latest bond auction attracted bids worth almost four times what was offered.
That followed the release of the government’s June year accounts, showing spending rose at a slower pace than economic growth, shrinking to 32.5% of GDP from 33.1% a year earlier. Net debt was unchanged at 41.8% of GDP, while gross debt grew to 46.7% from 41.9%, still below the May forecast.
Reporting by Paul McBeth.
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