MARKET CLOSE: Shares fall led by Meridian, MRP; Warehouse gains on Norman stake

New Zealand shares fell, led by power companies Meridian Energy and MightyRiverPower as they dropped from record highs with investors looking to crystallise recent gains. Warehouse Group gained after James Pascoe Group upped its stake in the retailer.

The NZX 50 Index fell 25.707 points, or 0.5 percent, to 5647.145. Within the index, 15 stocks fell, 23 rose and 12 were unchanged. Turnover was $115 million.

Dividend paying stocks, like energy companies have been pushed higher as investors hunt yield in a globally low interest rate environment. Today, partially-privatised energy companies fell from record highs as investors looked to cash in on recent gains. Meridian led the benchmark index lower dropping 3.7 percent from yesterday's record close to $1.85. MRP declined 2.6 percent from its record to $3.33. Genesis Energy retreated 0.7 percent to $2.145.

"With the share price moving the way it has it might be people decided to take a few of those profits," said James Smalley, director at Hamilton Hindin Greene. "It's the yield play. Interest rates aren't going to be going up anytime soon at all and it's the scenario of the land in the blind the one eyed man is king - in the world of extremely low interest rates New Zealand's dividends still looking pretty attractive."

Warehouse, the country's largest listed retailer, rose 1.5 percent to $2.75. James Pascoe, the retail group owned by David and Anne Norman, lifted its holding in Warehouse to 7.4 percent as the shares traded at a near two-and-a-half year low.

"The market has taken a bit of heart from those significant high net worth investors adding to their stake," Smalley said. "It had been sold off pretty strongly."

Contact Energy rose 0.5 percent to $6.65. The electricity generator and retailer signed a new deal with Maui Development Ltd to purchase between 22 and 26 petajoules of gas over a two-to-three-year period that significantly boosts its overall forward supply.

Dual-listed stocks followed Australia's S&P/ASX200 Index higher, which was up 0.3 percent in afternoon trading. Summerset Group Holdings, the retirement village operator, was the biggest gainer on the benchmark, rising 2 percent to $3.12. Westpac Banking Corp advanced 1.7 percent to $36.16. Sky Network Television gained 1 percent to $6.02. Metro Performance Glass gained 1.1 percent to $1.87.

On the New Zealand Alternative Index, GeoOp, whose software allows mobile businesses such as builders to manage their workforce, rose 1.6 percent to 64 cents after it reported accelerating growth in user numbers through the final three months of 2014.

(BusinessDesk)