Smartpay surged to a seven-month as the payments provider attracted a suitor with a sweeter offer than Tyro Payments, granting its unnamed beau an exclusive look at its books.
That was amid a broadly stronger day for the S&P/NZX 50 index, as Mainfreight continued to drive higher, alongside other industrial stocks such as Fletcher Building, Freightways, and Auckland International Airport.
Meanwhile, skinnier interest margins in Australia weighed on Westpac Banking Corp as the first of the three major lenders reporting this week came out the gates. The softness among financial stocks weighed more heavily across the Tasman than in New Zealand.
A slump in oil prices added to the downbeat tone in Australia, where energy stocks such as Woodside and Santos declined, although it was a boon for Qantas Airways – not so much for Air New Zealand.
Another day, another dollar
The NZX50 rose for a third day, climbing 93.36 points, or 0.8%, to 12,421.25, with 31 stocks gaining, 14 falling and five unchanged. Turnover across the main board was a relatively quiet $89.6 million.
Precinct Properties NZ led the local market higher, climbing 5.5% to $1.15 on a volume of 3.3 million. The commercial landlord has experienced big trading volumes over the past week, which has seen Milford Asset Management lift its holding to 9%.
Jeremy Sullivan, an investment adviser at Hamilton Hindin Greene, said people are seeing the official cash rate bottoming out at 2.75% as opposed to 3.1%.
“That doesn’t sound like a large shift, but it’s 10% lower,” Sullivan said. “That’s a material impact on those real estate stocks.”
Argosy Property rose 2% to $1.03 and Investore Property increased 1.9% to $1.09.
Industrial companies linked to economic growth were among the bigger drivers for the local bourse, with Fletcher Building up 2.9% at $3.23, while Mainfreight rose for a second day, advancing 2.4% to $63.50, and Auckland airport gained 2.1% to $7.90. Freightways increased 1.9% to $10.29.
Banking on it
Westpac fell 3.1% to $35.18 after the dual-listed lender missed expectations when reporting a 1% decline in first-half profit to A$3.3 billion. That weighed on other ASX-listed banks, such as National Australia Bank and dual-listed ANZ – which are both reporting later this week – and Commonwealth Bank of Australia. ANZ declined 0.6% to $32.30 on the NZX.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.8% in late trading as the financial sector weighed, with energy companies such Santos and Woodside also declining as Brent crude oil futures fell 3.5% to US$59.15 a barrel.
The prospect of cheaper fuel buoyed Australian carrier Qantas, although Air New Zealand slipped 0.9% to 57.5 cents. Travel software developer Serko posted the biggest decline on the top 50, falling 3.9% to $3.41.
Outside the benchmark index, Smartpay jumped 18% to $1 after the payments firm granted exclusivity to a potential buyer who lobbed in a conditional non-binding offer of $1.20. ASX-listed Tyro, which offered $1 a share, withdrew from the process.
The kiwi dollar rose to 59.76 US cents at 5pm in Auckland from 59.30 cents last week.
Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from Jonas Leupe on Unsplash.
