MARKET CLOSE: NZ shares mixed; GPG, KIP rise while banks fall

Wednesday 23rd June 2010

New Zealand shares were mixed. Westpac and ANZ fell, tracking declines in global markets, while Guinness Peat Group and Kiwi Income Property Trust rose.

The NZX 50 edged up just 0.09 points, or zero percent, to close at 3,054.2, matching yesterday’s close. Within the index 12 stock rose, 21 stocks fell and 17 were unchanged. Turnover was $63 million.

In Asian markets, the Nikkei was trading 1.7% down at 9,940.71, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index down 0.4% at 20,734.68. On Wall Street, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 1.6% overnight after home sales unexpectedly declined.

“The banks are largely pacing the Australian market, which is pretty weak right now, tracking global sentiment,” said Stephen Walker, head of asset management for Goldman Sachs JBWere.

Shares in ANZ (NZX: ANZ ) fell 2.6% to $28.40, while Westpac (NZX: WBC ) shares fell 3.6% to $28.20, hurt by announcement in Europe that nations were looking to impose new bank taxes on short-term funding, to deter lenders from relying on so-called hot money.

The UK included a new bank tax on short-term financing in its emergency budget this week, while Germany and France have indicated they’re looking at similar measures and planned to urge other G-20 nations to follow.

Among gainers, Guinness Peat Group (NZX: GPG ) rose 4.9% to 64 cents. Walker downplayed talk that the bounce was due to speculation that GPG may make a cash payment to investors as part of its plan to spin off its Australian assets.

“I doubt that is something that would excite people overly,” Walker said. “What the market really wants to see is an orderly windup of the business, that is the only way you can see value being realized. The Australian portfolio was not the greatest use of shareholders money, and it has been a problem for some time, so spinning it off is probably not the solution.”

Kiwi Income Property Trust (NZX: KIP ) rose 1.1% to 92 cents after saying it will buy back up to 20 million of its units in the next 12 months to underpin its price.

Biotech company Pacific Edge (NZX: PEB ) climbed 4.4% to 24 cents after announcing it had gained a New Zealand patent for its colorectal cancer prognostic technology.

Auckland International Airport (NZX: AIA ) fell 1% to $1.92 after announcing its operating figures for May, which showed a pickup in domestic volumes.

Pacing decliners, Pyne Gould (NZX: PGC ) fell 4.7% to 41 cents. Shares in Pumpkin Patch (NZX: PPL ), the children’s clothing retailer, fell 2.4% to $2.

Businesswire.co.nz

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