Fletcher led the index higher as building consents point to increased activity.
New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index snapped two weekly declines as the benchmark index gained 1.3% this week, as more modest pricing intentions by firms gave investors reason to reconsider how aggressively the Reserve Bank would hike interest rates later this year.
Fletcher Building led the NZX50 higher on Friday in a broad-based rally on both sides of the Tasman as oil prices subsided from recent highs after Statistics New Zealand figures for new house consents weren’t as soft as some had feared.
Dual-listed ANZ Group Holdings declined despite beating earnings expectations, with investors unnerved by the lender’s credit provisioning in the uncertain environment, while SkyCity Entertainment Group dropped as it trimmed its earnings outlook.
And US tech manufacturer Bourns declared its takeover of Rakon unconditional after crossing the 90% threshold needed to mop-up any holdout shareholders.
The NZX50 jumped 135.89 points, or 1.1%, to 13,039.2, taking the weekly gain to 1.3% and snapping two weeks of declines. Within the index, 31 stocks gained, 11 declined, and eight were unchanged. Turnover across the main board was $128.8 million, of which Fisher & Paykel Healthcare accounted for $14.5m as it fell 1% to $36.18.
Stock markets across Asia were mixed as the stalemate in the Middle East shows no signs of ending, although Brent crude oil futures fell 3.5% to US$113.94 a barrel at 5pm in Auckland. The Polymarket prediction market was pricing a 19% chance of a permanent peace by the end of this month and a 32% chance of a deal by the end of June.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index was on track to snap eight days of declines, up 0.9% in late trading, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 increased 0.6% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.3%.
Fletcher led New Zealand’s benchmark index higher, climbing 3.9% to $2.90 in its biggest gain in a single day since September. Stats NZ figures showed new residential building consents eased slightly in March, but were still up 11% from a year earlier.
Vulcan Steel was unchanged at $6.30, while Steel & Tube Holdings declined 2.5% to 39.5 cents and Metro Performance Glass was unchanged at $1.
“With a lift in consent numbers over the past year, we expect building activity will trend higher over the next few months,” Westpac NZ senior economist Satish Ranchhod said in a note. “However, there is a bigger question about the outlook for building as we head into the latter part of the year.”
Ranchhod said the Middle East conflict was lifting fuel and material costs in the building sector, which would likely weigh on developers’ appetite to start new products.
“That could see the recent uplift in activity giving way to renewed softness later in the year,” he said.
Logistics group Mainfreight rose 3.4% to $61, while courier operator Freightways increased 1.2% to $12.80.
Westpac NZ senior economist Satish Ranchhod.
Property stocks were broadly stronger, with Goodman New Zealand up 3.7% at $1.96, Kiwi Property Group gaining 3.3% to 94.5 cents and Precinct Properties NZ advancing 2.9% to $1.06.
Retailers were generally stronger after the ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence survey showed households were unnerved by the Middle East conflict, with a net 25% saying it’s a bad time to buy a big-ticket item.
Hallenstein Glasson Holdings advanced 0.6% to $9.86. Michael Hill International climbed 4.3% to 48.5 cents and Warehouse Group slipped 0.8% to 65.5 cents.
Briscoe Group rose 1.3% to $4.61 after reporting a 1.4% increase in quarterly sales, and a recovery in gross margin.
KMD Brands climbed 3.2%, or 0.2 of a cent, to 6.4 cents on a volume of 4.5 million shares – the most for the day – after saying Philip Bowman had been elected chair, taking over from David Kirk, who would stay on the board until a new New Zealand-based director was appointed.
Contact Energy increased 1.5% to $9.64 after saying Jon Macdonald would succeed Rob McDonald as chair of the power company at the end of its annual meeting later this year.
ANZ fell 1.2% to $44.05 after reporting a 70% jump in first-half cash earnings on its cost-cutting drive, with investors uneasy about its level of credit provisioning. Westpac Banking Corp, which reports next week, rose 1.9% to $47.59.
Serko posted the steepest drop on the day, falling 5.3% to $1.60, while Sky Network Television declined 2.5% to $3.15.
SkyCity fell 1.6% to 62.5 cents after trimming $10m from its annual earnings guidance as higher fuel prices sapped the number of people visiting its Adelaide and Auckland casinos.
Air New Zealand was unchanged at 42.5 cents after Qantas Airways cut the number of trans-Tasman flights on elevated fuel costs.
Outside the benchmark index, Rakon increased 0.3% to $1.54.5 after Bourns declared its $1.55-per-share offer unconditional, having met the threshold to enforce compulsory sales. `
The kiwi dollar traded at 58.94 US cents at 5pm from 58.32 cents yesterday, holding on to most of its overnight gains against a broadly weaker greenback after Japanese authorities intervened to bolster the yen.
Reporting by Paul McBeth.
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