MARKET CLOSE: NZ shares gain, led by Cavalier, OceanaGold

MARKET CLOSE: NZ shares gain, led by Cavalier, OceanaGold

Oct. 31 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand shares rose, pushing the NZX 50 Index to a two-week high, with gold miner OceanaGold and carpet-maker Cavalier leading the advance, while Fletcher Building fell.

The NZX 50 rose 6.95, or 0.2 percent, to 3332.55. Within the index, 26 stocks rose, 17 fell and seven were unchanged. Turnover was $125.3 million. Investors are focussed on the annual meeting season, with a number of profit downgrades stoking concern corporate New Zealand is still doing it tough.

OceanaGold, which operates the Macraes gold field, rose 5.9 percent to $3.25, the highest in almost two weeks, though on light volume of just 12,500 shares.

Cavalier, which posted a 20 percent slump in first-quarter sales on Oct. 12, gained 5.1 percent to $2.90, advancing from a 13-month low plumbed last week.

Fletcher, the nation's biggest construction company, fell 0.9 percent to $6.65.
Government figures today showed building consents, excluding apartments, tumbled 14 percent in September, the first decline in five months.

TrustPower, the utility controlled by Infratil, rose 1.1 percent to $7.25 after posting a 15 percent increase in first-half profit on revenue from its Snowtown wind farm, increased NZ production and higher wholesale electricity prices. Sales rose 6 percent to $426.6 million.

“There was a reasonable TrustPower number out today, that helped sentiment," said Craig Brown, senior investment analyst at One Path New Zealand.

“The overriding tone is for more downgrades than upgrades, and that reflects the uncertain environment out there,” Brown said. "It’s fairly subdued and that’s reflected in the broader economy.”

Telecom, the nation's biggest phone company, rose 0.2 percent to $2.535. Fitch Ratings today lowered its long-term foreign currency credit rating by one notch to BBB+, citing “additional competitive pressures” once the company splits into its retail and wholesale arms.

Property for Industry, the industrial property investor, rose 1.7 percent to $1.17 after posting a 15 percent decline in distributable earnings to $11.7 million in the nine months ended Sept. 30. Net profit of $9 million, turned from a $25.7 million loss a year earlier when it took a one-off hit on the tax treatment of its building values.

NZX fell 0.4 percent to $2.34 after the stock exchange operator reported a 14 percent gain in third-quarter profit, driven by sales of agricultural data, listings and securities clearing services.

(BusinessDesk)

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