MARKET WRAP: NZ shares stable on steady OCR
Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr is keeping the OCR at 1.75% but says the next move could be either up or down
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New Zealand shares rose slightly today as the market digested an unchanged official cash rate.
The NZX50 index climbed 2.3 points to 8,998.8, on turnover of $141 million.
Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr today kept the OCR at 1.75%, although adding the next move could be for change in either direction.
“Clearly, globally at the moment, interest rates are heading towards the upside" and the US 10-year bond yield is higher at 2.83% than their New Zealand counterparts, which are trading at about 2.7%, for the first time in decades,” says Craigs Investment Partners senior investment adviser Nigel Scott.
Kathmandu continued a successful week after announcing a profit upgrade on Monday. Its shares were up 8c to $2.96.
“[Kathmandu is] continuing on from its profit update which is nice to see for a retail story. It’s a cold winter and everyone is going out shopping for a sale,” says Mr Scott.
A2 Milk fell 7c to $11.66, while its supplier Synlait Milk was steady at $11.50.
Trading volume was 2.2 million for Synlait, which on Tuesday named a new chief executive in ex-Fonterra executive Leon Clement.
A2's sales volumes have continued to grow exponentially - in May, it said that March quarter sales rose 70% and that it expects annual revenue will be $900-$920m - and Synlait share hit a record $11.65 earlier this week, illustrating that investors have "massive confidence in that particular sector,” says Mr Scott.
Fonterra Shareholders Fund climbed 13c to $5.35.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare dropped 36c to $14.90 and Tourism Holdings fell 8c to $6.72.
Sky TV rose 7c to $2.60 and Comvita went up 18c to $5.85.
Mackenzie Smith
Fri, 20 Jul 2018
Fri, 20 Jul 2018
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MARKET WRAP: NZ shares stable on steady OCR
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