MARKET CLOSE: NZ shares dip in market lull

MARKET CLOSE: NZ shares dip in market lull during US-North Korea summit; Argosy, Ryman, Arvida fall

By Sophie Boot

June 12 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand shares dipped in light trading as some stocks gave up dividends, with the focus on the US-North Korea summit in Singapore.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 1 point, or 0.01 percent, to 8,958.81. Within the index, 19 stocks fell, 18 rose and 13 were unchanged. Turnover was $140.2 million.

"It was quite a bit weaker early on and it's mostly rallied back, like yesterday. The volumes are pretty poor still, it's relatively devoid of any particular news - we've had results season, there are a few investor days coming up so there's a bit of interest coming up but it is pretty quiet," said David Price, a broker at Forsyth Barr.

The market was quiet yesterday with Australia's ASX closed for that country's Queen's Birthday holiday, as a significant amount of NZX trading comes from Australian institutional investors. Across the region today, markets were flat with interest focussed on the historic meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un. At 5:10pm New Zealand time, the ASX 200 was up 0.1 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng had risen 0.3 percent, and Japan's TOPIX was up 0.3 percent.

Argosy Property, which today shed a 1.55 cent final dividend, was the worst performer today as it fell 2.5 cents or 2.3 percent to $1.065. Ryman Healthcare, which shed its dividend last week, dropped 1.6 percent to $12.05, while Arvida Group (which gave up rights to a 1.56 cent final dividend) was down 2 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $1.28.

Synlait Milk dropped 1 percent to $10.78, and Summerset Group Holdings declined 1 percent to $7.33.

The best performer was Sky Network Television, which rose 2.9 percent to $2.47, with Tourism Holdings up 2.6 percent to $6.68 and Kathmandu Holdings gaining 1.7 percent to $2.46.

Restaurant Brands rose 1.5 percent to $7.97 and Mercury New Zealand gained 1.5 percent to $3.37.

Outside the benchmark index, Vista Group rose 0.3 percent to $3.61. It has signed up French cinema chain Les Cinémas Pathé Gaumont for its cinema management software, which will be rolled out in 69 sites, for an undisclosed amount. The company also agreed a deal to supply its cloud-based cinema management system Veezi to Pathé Gaumont's North African sites.

(BusinessDesk)

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