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The move came after cooling inflation data and stronger-than-expected retail sales data boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates in September.
Domestically, the NZX consumer discretionary sector rose 2.9 per cent. Warehouse rebounded 11 cents or 10.48 per cent to $1.16, Michael Hill rose 3 cents or 5 per cent to 63 cents, Briscoe Group rose 23 cents or 5.54 per cent to $4.38 and KMD Brands fell 1.5 cents or 3.66 per cent to 39.5 cents.
Michael Hill reported a healthy 6% increase in group sales in the final seven weeks of the financial year. Full-year sales were up 3.8% and 4.9% in the second half.
Australia rose 10.5% for the full year and 12% in the second half of the year; New Zealand fell 11.8% and 12%; Canada rose 0.3% and 1.6%. The full-year gross profit margin was 60.5%. Michael Hill has 300 stores in three countries.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose 30 cents to $31.65, Ebos Group rose 19 cents to $34.79, Freightways rose 10 cents to $8.70, Restaurant Brands rose 14 cents, or 4.9 per cent, to $3, SkyCity rose 6 cents, or 3.92 per cent, to $1.59 and Heartland Group rose 3 cents, or 3 per cent, to $1.03.
Tourism Holdings rose 10c, or 4.83 per cent, to $2.17, Sky TV gained 8c, or 3.03 per cent, to $2.72, Tower rose 3c, or 3.24 per cent, to $95.5c, Colonial Motor rose 15c, or 2.21 per cent, to $6.95 and Green Cross Health rose 4c, or 4.94 per cent, to 85c.
Software company Blackpearl Group added a further five cents, or 7.04 per cent, to 76 cents, having risen 33 per cent this week after reporting strong growth in the first quarter.
In the energy sector, Mercury fell 8.5 cents to $7.065, Meridian rose 7 cents to $6.89 and Genesis rose 4 cents, or 1.79 per cent, to $2.27.
Meridian has revealed to the market that the Harapaki Wind Farm, located north of Napier and the second largest wind farm in Australia, is now fully operational and is expected to be completed within $448 million of investment. The wind farm produces enough electricity to meet the electricity needs of 70,000 average homes, covering most of Hawke’s Bay.
Genesis reported growth in customer numbers in the fourth quarter and a 3.5% increase in electricity sales. The Huntly power station produced 638 gigawatt-hours more than the same period last year, due to a tightening gas market and a drop in hydro reserves.
Vector shares rose 1c to $3.72 as it reported electricity and gas connections of 624,330 and 120,354 in the year to June, up 1.9 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively. Distributed electricity volumes rose 2.4 per cent to 8754 gigawatt hours and LPG volumes rose 5.4 per cent to 44,165 tonnes.
Ryman Healthcare fell 14 cents, or 3.26 per cent, to $4.15, a2 Milk fell 17 cents, or 2.19 per cent, to $7.58, Gentrack fell 20 cents, or 1.83 per cent, to $10.75 and ANZ Bank fell 63 cents, or 1.88 per cent, to $32.80.
Chorus fell 10 cents to $7.86, PGG Wrightson fell 4 cents, or 1.9 per cent, to $2.06, Marsden Maritime Holdings fell 6 cents, or 1.79 per cent, to $3.30, T&G Global fell 4 cents, or 2.35 per cent, to $1.66 and Being AI fell 0.007 cents, or 11.67 per cent, to 5.3 cents.
Scott Technology shares rose 4c to $2.50. Scott has appointed Mike Christman as its new chief executive, succeeding John Kippenberger at the end of August. Christman was previously global executive vice president of Vanderlande BV and managed a 2,000-person logistics automation team.
Livestock Improvement Corp fell 2c to C$1.18 after reporting revenue of C$267.3 million, down 3.3 per cent, and net profit of $7.7 million, down 71.7 per cent, for the year to May. The company, which has no debt and will pay a final dividend of C$5.84 per share on Aug. 16, forecast underlying earnings of $16 million to $22 million for fiscal 2025, up from $13.9 million.
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