MARKET CLOSE: NZ shares gain, Auckland Airport, SkyCity and Moa rally while Comvita drops

New Zealand shares hit another record high in light turnover, with Auckland International Airport, SkyCity Entertainment Group and Moa Group gaining, while Comvita fell.

The S&P/NZX 50 rose 48.88 points, or 0.7 percent, to 7.154.83. Within the index, 24 stocks rose, 14 fell and 13 were unchanged. Turnover was $129 million.

"The market's pretty quiet, albeit there have been some large lines going through, which appear to be a portfolio - it could be the loss of a mandate or an asset allocation, but it does seem to be in names that are owned quite reasonably by offshore shareholders," said Rickey Ward, New Zealand equity manager at JBWere.

Those names included SkyCity Entertainment Group, which gained 2.1 percent to $4.79, Meridian Energy, which rose 1.1 percent to $2.68, and Air New Zealand, which dropped 1.6 percent to $2.23, Ward said.

SkyCity had 3 million shares traded today, compared to its 30-day average of 1.69 million, while Air New Zeland had 2.32 million traded, higher than its 30-day average of 1.69 million.

Auckland International Airport led the index, up 3.2 percent to $7.09, and has gained 19.5 percent this year.

Kiwi Property Group advanced 1.6 percent to $1.57 and Fletcher Building was up 1.4 percent to $9.24.

Comvita was the worst performer, down 1.8 percent to $11.20.

Westpac Banking Corp fell 1.5 percent to $31.98 and Summerset Group Holdings shed 1.1 percent to $4.64.

Tower fell 0.4 percent to $1.38. Chief financial officer Brett Wilson has resigned 16 months after the general insurer recruited him from Seniors Money International.

"People might take it as a bit of a surprise, but it didn't point to anything untoward, and we understand it's purely a personal decision," Ward said. "It's pretty hard to read anything into it other than he's decided to move on."

Outside the main bourse, Moa Group gained 10.1 percent to 87 cents. The Marlborough-based brewer got a price enquiry last Wednesday after the shares rose 47.5 percent between June 27 and that day, to a peak of 87 cents from 59 cents.

"Goodness only knows what's driving that, but it's gone straight up since the end of last month," Ward said. "One would assume it might get another price inquiry - the share price has skyrocketed, admittedly on light volume, and you can hardly argue it's regaining lost ground as it's been on an upward trajectory for some time."

Oceania Natural was unchanged at $2.45. The food supplements maker, which listed on the NXT at the end of March, has raised about $3.5 million from investors in a joint venture to establish a Hong Kong-based subsidiary.

(BusinessDesk)