MARKET CLOSE: Market ends week on a high

Friday 17th September 2010

New Zealand stocks rose to a four-month high as New Zealand Refining’s better margins boosted the oil refiner.

The NZX 50 Index rose 16.62, or 0.5%, to 3212.25. Within the index 25 stocks gained, 12 were unchanged and 13 declined. Turnover was $90.7 million. The index finished the week up 1.5%, and has stayed above 70 on the relative strength index, or RIS, since the start of the month, a level some technical analysts say means a security is poised to fall.

NZ Refining (NZX: NZR ) climbed 12% to $3.80 after its throughput and margin report for July and August showed margins “remained healthy” though still had an uncertain outlook.

“It had reasonable margins, which were a bit better than expected, and that’s probably the main driver of that gain,” said Alan Moore at Milford Asset Management.

Moore said the week ended relatively well, with several stocks, such as Sky City (NZX: SKC ) and Freightways (NZX: FRE ) going ex-dividend, but holding on to their pricing. Sky City rose 0.7% to $2.89, while Freightways fell 0.3% to $2.96.

Other major gainers on the day were children’s clothing retailer Pumpkin Patch (NZX: PPL ), which gained 7.6% to $1.98, while GPS components manufacturer Rakon (NZX: RAK ) advanced 5.1% to $1.23, after Harbour Asset Management said it was a substantial shareholder in the company. Harbour Asset is made up of the former Alliance Bernstein team, led by respected fund manager Andrew Bascand.

New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZX: NZO ) rose 4.8% to $1.31 as the oil and gas explorer continued its share buy-back plan to bolster its share price. Coal miner Pike River Coal (NZX: PRC ), which is part-owned by NZOG, rose to $1.11 respectively.

Fletcher Building (NZX: FBU ) rose 1.7% to $8.47 as some of its senior executives returned from a global roadshow to talk up the prospects of its Formica business, and the local opportunities from rebuilding Christchurch after this month’s earthquake.

DNZ Property (NZX: DNZ ) gained 0.9% to $1.09 after chief executive Paul Duffy secured the first tranche of his bonus options, which could take his shareholder to 3.3% from 3%. Kiwi Income Property Trust gained 2.1% to 99 cents, while AMP New Zealand Office Trust (NZX: APT ) gained 1.4% to 75 cents.

Steel & Tube (NZX: STU ) sank 4% to $2.40, leading decliners on the index, after it went ex-div earlier this week.

Shares in Pyne Gould (NZX: PGC ) fell 2.4% to 41 cents, giving away yesterday’s gain after it entered a formal arrangement to merge its finance unit Marac Finance Ltd. with Southern Cross Building Society and Canterbury Building to form a bank. Standard & Poor’s put Marac’s speculative BB+ credit rating on creditwatch negative, saying it will increase to an investment grade BBB- if the merger’s successful. CBS shares extended its gain 3.5% to $3.00.

Whiteware manufacturer Fisher & Paykel Appliances (NZX: FPA ) pared some of the week’s gains, falling 1.6% to 60 cents, while fishing company Sanford (NZX: SAN ) fell 1.7% to $3.96. Property for Industry (NZX: PFI ) slipped 0.9% to $1.14.

A slew of failed companies were flagged for delisting from the stock exchange today, including carpet maker Feltex, financiers Dominion Finance Holdings and VTL Group, and Austral-Pacific Energy.

Businesswire.co.nz

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