Merry Christmas as NZX50 climbs for 4th session

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index rose for a fourth day in a row as investors prepare for the Christmas holiday, with retailer Briscoe Group leading the benchmark higher in a broadly stronger day for retailers as they head into their busiest time of the year.

Local property companies were stronger, with Precinct Properties NZ the pick of the bunch as ASX-listed EVT continues its push on this side of the Tasman after buying the QT Auckland hotel in the city’s Viaduct waterfront for $87.5 million from NZ Hotel Holdings – a joint venture between the NZ Superannuation Fund, Russell Group and Lockwood Holdings.

Pacific Edge was unchanged with an unusually large volume of shares changing hands ahead of the holiday season, while NZX dipped after announcing two new executive appointments.

And across the Tasman, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index was softer in late trading, with tech companies such as Xero and WiseTech Global among those weighing on the bourse as the Aussie dollar pushed to a 14-month high against the greenback.

Holiday!

The NZX50 rose 11.33 points, or 0.1%, to 13,529.06 in the shortened trading period, with 25 stocks gaining, 18 declining and seven unchanged. That took the weekly gain to 1.5% in the shortened Christmas period, the best weekly increase since early October.

Turnover was $39.8 million across the main board, with Auckland International Airport accounting for $6.7 million as it rose 0.2% to $8.28.

Homeware and sporting goods chain Briscoe Group led the benchmark higher, rising 2% to $5.10 in a broadly stronger day for local retailers ahead of the all-important Christmas period. Hallenstein Glasson Holdings increased 0.1% to $9.78 while Warehouse Group advanced 1.4% to 74 cents. Michael Hill International was unchanged at 40.5 cents and KMD Brands fell 3.6% to 27 cents, posting the steepest decline on the NZX50.

Listed property companies were stronger on the day after Australia’s EVT agreed to buy the QT Auckland hotel in the city’s Viaduct waterfront location for $87.5 million, some $20 million above Auckland Council’s capital valuation to set the property’s rates.

The building was part of NZ Hotel Holdings’ portfolio, which was put up for sale earlier this year by the joint venture between the NZ Super Fund, Russell Property Group and Lockwood holdings.

Precinct Properties NZ rose 1.3% to $1.19 while SkyCity Entertainment Group gained 1.1% to 89.5 cents, and Argosy Property was up 0.8% at $1.23.

Auckland hospitality operator Savor Group rose 2.5% to 20.5 cents.

Firm appointments

Stock market operator NZX slipped 0.7% to $1.54 after permanently appointing Robbie Douglas as chief of NZX Wealth Technologies and Daniel Juchnowicz as chief information officer, positions they’d each been acting as.

Outside the benchmark index, Pacific Edge was the most heavily traded stock with a volume of 3.4 million shares, of which 3.2 million changed hands in a single transaction at 17.3 cents. The shares ended the session unchanged at 17.1 cents.

Mining stocks were mixed as precious metal prices continued their march higher into the end of the year. Santana Minerals gained 2% to $1.04 while Minerals Exploration fell 2.7% to 18 cents and Manuka Resources rose 2.7% to 9 cents. New Talisman Gold Mines was unchanged at 2.5 cents.

Across the Tasman, the ASX200 was down 0.5% in late trading, with tech stocks weighing on the bourse. Xero was down 2.5% in late trading while WiseTech slipped 1.3%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.3% in early trading, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index dipped 0.1%.

The kiwi dollar rose to 58.40 US cents at 5pm in Auckland from 58.14 cents yesterday.

Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from Martin Bridges on Unsplash.