MARKET CLOSE: NZ shares rise, helped by portfolio reweighting

Friday 18th June 2010

New Zealand stocks rose, pushing the NZX 50 Index higher for the seventh day in eight, helped by a portfolio investor reweighting its holdings and gains from Air New Zealand and OceanaGold.

The NZX 50 rose 1.78, or 0.1%, to 3047.50. Within the index, 21 stocks rose, 20 fell, and nine were unchanged. Turnover was $75.5 million, ending a week of trading notable for its light volumes.

“Volumes have been very light, and the support of the portfolio has helped an illiquid market to be in positive territory with a slightly better tone due to marginally more buying than selling,” said Rickey Ward, domestic equities manager for Tyndall Investment Management.

Air New Zealand (NZX: AIR ) rose 1.7% to $1.17 after reporting a pickup in passenger volumes last month and an improvement in its load factor, driven by growth in domestic routes where the national carrier is planning to add capacity.

Macraes goldmine operator OceanaGold (NZX: OGC ) rose about 2% to a record-high close of $4.69 and reached as much as $4.75 in intraday trading. Gold for immediate delivery traded at US$1,243.90 an ounce in Singapore, heading back to the record high US$1,252.11 reached on June 8.

The company, which trades on the NZX, ASX and Toronto stock exchange, said yesterday that its shares are to be included in the Standard & Poor’s TSX Global Gold Index and the S&P TSX Global Mining Index effective on Monday. The shares have soared 244% in the 12 months.

Vector (NZX: VCT ) gained after the release of the draft decisions by the Commerce Commission on regulated rates of return for electricity distribution companies. The stock rose 0.9% to $2.17.

Vector believes the commission has taken too little account of the impact on global interest rates and that its decisions “vary from those previously articulated, which does not accord with a consistent and certain regulatory environment”, chief executive Simon Mackenzie said.

Guinness Peat Group (NZX: GPG ) ended the week up1.6% at $1.89 after a week of declines as investors reacted to news that it was looking to spin off its Australian assets into a separate listed entity.

“GPG is moving on emotion rather than fundamentals,” said Ward. “I haven’t come across one person who thinks it’s overvalued - it’s undervalued - but the movement shows what is driving it.”

Telecom (NZX: TEL ) closed the week in the black, up 1.6% at $1.89, after agreeing to refund $120,000 to customers and pay a $75,000 settlement to Consumer New Zealand for misleading broadband internet advertisements dating back to 2008.

Fletcher Building (NZX: FBU ) fell 0.9% to $8.14, which Ward said was largely driven by profit taking given the stock’s solid performance in recent weeks. The shares have held their ground in the past month, climbing 0.5% while the NZX 50 fell about 3.5%.

Rakon (NZX: RAK ), the maker of crystal oscillators used in navigation systems and mobile phones, fell 4.4% to 86 cents.

PGG Wrightson (NZX: PGW ) was 3.6% down at 53 cents.

Businesswire.co.nz

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