New Zealand shares surged into the silly season with quarterly index rebalancing driving a glut of activity late in the day, with Spark NZ and Auckland International Airport in hot demand.
The S&P/NZX 50 index climbed 149.96 points, or 1.2% to 12,698.11 as it unwound all of yesterday’s slump. Spark climbed 0.7% to $2.83 on a volume of 12.9 million shares and Auckland Airport rising 2% to $8.30 with 8.5 million shares changing hands.
The adjust period of trading was extended to allow for quarterly rebalancing in the S&P/NZX and FTSE Russell indices, in the last full week of trading for the year, with the benchmark index up 1.2% this week.
Australia’s S&P/ASX remained in the doldrums, falling 1.3% in late trading, as banking stocks weighed across the Tasman. Dual-listed ANZ sank 6.5% to $30.01 on the NZX, posting the biggest decline on the NZX50, while Westpac dropped 2.3% to $34.77.
Power surge
Meridian Energy led the benchmark index higher, rising 5.4% to $5.88, with 3.4 million shares changing hands. The country’s biggest electricity generator announced plans for a 50-50 joint venture with Todd Corp’s Nova Energy to build a $660 million solar farm near Taupō.
Mercury NZ rose 0.7% to $6.04 and Genesis Energy advanced 3.7% to $2.27.
Meanwhile, Contact Energy declined 2.4% to $8.78 after the Commerce Commission extended its decision on the electricity generator-retailer’s proposed purchase of Manawa Energy, saying it will release a statement of issues on the transaction. Manawa slipped 0.5% to $5.62, while its shareholder Infratil climbed 4.8% to $12.70.
Ebos Group increased 0.7% to $36.60 after the Australian federal government signed a pharmaceutical wholesale agreement with the National Pharmaceutical Services Association, providing for modest funding increases in the 2025 and 2027 financial years. The healthcare and animal products maker reaffirmed earnings guidance.
Would-be miner New Talisman Gold Mines climbed 10.5%, or 0.2 of a cent, to 2.1 cents after being granted an exploration permit, while Santana Minerals jumped 6% to 53 cents.
Marlborough Wine Estates was unchanged at 6 cents after shareholders voted to de-list from the NZX, while stock exchange operator NZX rose 2.7% to $1.50.
The kiwi dollar remained under pressure, trading near two-year lows at 56.24 US cents at 5pm in Auckland from 56.41 cents at 7am and 56.31 cents yesterday.
Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from Curious News.