Infratil and Ebos help drive NZ stocks higher

The S&P/NZX 50 Index ended up 49.96 points or 0.39% at 12,855.10, with 26.1 million shares, worth $94.6m trading.

There were 69 rises and 66 falls on the main board.

In the United States, Wall Street’s S&P 500 set its fourth record close in a row as earnings from Alphabet pointed to artificial intelligence as a key growth catalyst.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2% to also set a fresh record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 0.6%.

Late in the NZ trading day, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 43.10 points at 8,666.30. The index has lost 1.04% for the past five days, but sits just 1.25% below its 52-week high.

The main influences on the local S&P/NZX50 index were infrastructure investor Infratil, up 26c or 2.3% at $11.45, and medical supplies distributor Ebos, up 41c at $41.17.

On the downside, utilities software provider Gentrack dropped by 61c or 5.5% to $10.52 after announcing that it had been informed by an Australian customer that it was no longer in the frame for replacing its current platform.

“Whilst the financial impact of this does not warrant disclosure, out of caution we are providing this update to our investors,” Gentrack said.

Salt Funds managing director Matt Goodson said Gentrack had lost out to its main competitor, Kraken, which is part of Britain’s Octopus Energy.

“It should not have come as a shock because it was suspected by some, but the actual confirmation of it has seen the stock fall,” Goodson said.

Sky Network TV fell 8c to $3.06 after spiking higher earlier in the week on news that it would buy the troubled Discovery NZ for $1.

Among the smaller caps, takeover target Metro Performance Glass (market cap $9m) gained 0.3 of a cent to 5c.

Competitor Viridian NZ’s 8c per share offer for Metro Glass is before the Commerce Commission, which today issued a “Statement of Issues” relating to the application.

“[The] commission has identified potential adverse competitive effects arising from a loss of competition between Viridian and Metro in glass processing, supply and installation markets where they are close competitors,” it said.

Goodson said the commission “clearly has issues” with Viridian buying Metro Glass because they are the two major players in glass processing and installation.

“I guess the question then is if Viridian is not allowed, then what becomes of Metro Glass, given their debt levels?” Goodson said.

Looking ahead, annual meetings next week for Ryman Healthcare and Mainfreight should give investors some clues as to how the two leading stocks are tracking in the current financial year.

Later in the week, second-quarter results from Apple, Amazon and Microsoft – part of America’s so-called Magnificent Seven – are due out.

In the big picture, the ongoing spat between US President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell continues to be a concern for the financial markets as investors worry about the US central bank’s independence.