New Zealand stocks rise as bargain hunters emerge
Bargain hunters come out of the woodwork.
New Zealand shares rose for the first time this year after a five-day slide that attracted bargain hunters in a market with little local corporate news to push up prices.
At 11.15am, the S&P/NZX 50 Index was up 24.91 points, or 0.4%, to 6127.74, from yesterday's close of 6102.82. Turnover was about $21.3 million.
The index had fallen 3.5% so far this year at yesterday's close, dropping every day after reaching an all-time high at the end of last year.
The losses have been attributed to global nervousness, triggered by increasing Chinese economic contraction which saw trading halted in Shanghai after markets hit a 7% decline on two separate occasions, and weak oil prices.
Wall St tumbled, hitting a three-month low on December 6, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index has had its worst ever start to the year.
The rise in the local market is "a bit of bargain hunting after a miserable start to the year," Hamilton Hindin Greene director Grant Williamson says. The lack of local news has kept investors focused on overseas markets, he says.
"You're still seeing low volumes here. Wall Street has seen a little bit of a bounce, but investors will be waiting to see what happens when markets in China and Australia open this afternoon."
Yesterday's biggest positive mover, the Warehouse Group, gained 5% after announcing its predicted first-half profit would be a 20% improvement on a year earlier.
Other companies will need to announce earnings increases over the next month, during reporting season, for the local market to hit the highs it did at the end of last year, Mr Williamson says.
(BusinessDesk)
Sophie Boot
Tue, 12 Jan 2016
Tue, 12 Jan 2016
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New Zealand stocks rise as bargain hunters emerge
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