Key Highlights :
The New Zealand share market opened the week after Easter in a lacklustre mood, with the S&P/NZX 50 Index having a rocky session. The index fell in the morning and recovered in the afternoon, finishing flat at 11,873.58, up 3.5 points or 0.03 per cent. There were 86 gainers and 48 decliners over the whole market, with 24.41 million shares worth $92.62m changing hands.
One of the decliners was Summerset Group, which acknowledged tough trading in the retirement village sector. The company declined 27c or 3.07 per cent to $8.52 after reporting 210 sales in the March quarter, which was lower than the same period last year. The number included 115 new sales and 95 resales, and Summerset described it as a credible result given the tough market conditions. It expected a stronger second half of the financial year.
Jeremy Sullivan, investment adviser with Hamilton Hindin Greene, said the mixed indices in the United States gave little guidance to the local market. “Maybe people are still digesting the 50 basis points increase in the official cash rate last week. The Reserve Bank is doing what it indicated with a cash rate of 5.5 per cent by May. Here it comes.”
The latest Chinese inflation data was slightly less than expected, with the March consumer price index rising 0.7 per cent, and this could be a sign that the global economy may be reining in inflation. This sentiment flowed through the Australian market, especially the major banks. The S&P/ASX 200 Index had risen 1.26 per cent to 7309.8 points at 6 pm NZ time. ANZ increased 72c or 2.93 per cent to $25.30, and Westpac was up 71c or 3.07 per cent to $23.85 on the New Zealand market.
Chorus gained 2c to $8.45 after telling the market that total fibre connections increased 15,000 to 1.01 million in the third quarter, and ultra-fast broadband now covers 72 per cent of its completed footprint. Auckland has 81 per cent uptake.
Market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 27c to $26.73, Meridian declined 17.5c or 3.33 per cent to $5.125; Infratil shed 12c to $9.16; Skellerup Holdings fell 20c or 3.91 per cent to $4.91, and PGG Wrightson decreased 9c or 2.05 per cent to $4.30. Other decliners were South Port NZ down 20c or 2.6 per cent to $7.50; AFT Pharmaceuticals shed 9c to $5.76, and Kathmandu Holdings was down 7c or 2.52 per cent to $2.70.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index has been on a downward trend for the past few weeks and has now lost 3.4% of its value since the start of the year. The index is currently below its 50-day moving average and its 200-day moving average. The index has been hit hard by the global financial crisis and the weak New Zealand economy. The index is made up of 50 stocks and is mainly composed of large-cap companies. The index has been hit particularly hard by the banking sector, which has been the worst performing sector in the index.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index is down 1.5% for the year so far. However, it is still up 7.5% since the start of