NZX cash trading climbs 14% in September, debt listings up by $1 billion

Cash trading on the NZX increased last month continuing August's upward trend, as the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index reached new records in September and new debt listings remained attractive in a low interest rate environment.

The volume of cash market trading rose 14% to 152,264 last month from the same month a year earlier, NZX's monthly shareholder metrics show. The value of trading gained 8% to $3.8 billion from September 2015, while the daily average value traded was also up 8% to $175 million.

The volume of equity transactions in September increased 15% to 149,243 and the value of those trades rose 8.8% to $3.7 billion, while the volume of debt transactions rose 2.9% to 3003 but the value traded dropped 8.7% to $133 million.

NZX's debt market has a renewed vigor this year as globally low interest rates have made bonds an attractive funding option for companies. The number of issuers on the debt market was up 16% to 43 in September from a year earlier, while the 106 listed securities across all asset classes was 33% higher than September 2015.

Companies listed $1 billion of new debt on the NZX in September, taking the year-to-date tally to $5.3 billion. That compares to no new equity listings last month, with just $1.26 billion of capital listed from initial public offerings and compliance listings this year.

Some $167 million of new capital was raised across 25 events in the month, of which $155 million was by primary issuers, $12 million from dual and secondary issuers, and no debt. This year, $2.5 billion of new capital has been raised.

The value of all equity on the NZX was $122.2 billion, or 48.5% of gross domestic product, up 26% from September 2015, while the value of the debt market was $24.9 billion, or 9.9% of GDP, an 86% increase from a year earlier.

NZX's derivatives market reported a 9.2% rise in the total lots of futures to 26,420, while options trading slumped 83% to 730. Open interest was down 4.3% to 48,487.

The stock market operator's funds management SuperLife unit increased funds under management 21% to $1.6 billion from a year earlier, of which its KiwiSaver funds rose 35% to $588 million. Smartshares units on issue jumped 62% to 745 million, with an 84% gain in value to $1.7 billion.

In grain trading, the volume traded rose 21% to 641,241 in the season to date from a year earlier.

NZX shares last traded at $1.03, and have declined 3.7% this year. Yesterday, chief executive Tim Bennett announced he will step down from the role at the end of 2016, earlier than originally planned, after spending four years in charge of the stock market operator.

(BusinessDesk)

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