Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said the local market took its lead from the United States in the morning, but it was still a little fragile and drifted off later in the day.<\/p>\n
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered more than half of the previous day\u2019s loss, gaining 1.19% to 52,208.<\/p>\n
The rally was mainly driven by Microsoft, rising 15.51% to US$451.10 ($768.88), and Goldman Sachs, up 4.5% to US$1024.86.<\/p>\n
The S&P 500 was up 1.66% to 7437.63 points, and the Nasdaq Composite increased 2.78% to 25,122.18, with Amazon gaining 3.9% to US$235.50 following its strong quarterly result.<\/p>\n
Goodson said a US hedge fund, Situational Awareness, which had grown from US$200m to US$45 billion in assets, was being unwound after big losses \u201con its plays with AI and software stocks. This meant tech stocks moved in the opposite direction and made gains.\u201d<\/p>\n
Local stocks<\/p>\n
At home, Chorus was down 19c, or 1.98%, to $9.43; a2 Milk declined 22c, or 2.6%, to $8.25; Fletcher Building decreased 10c, or 2.67%, to $3.65; and Ryman Healthcare shed 5c, or 2.28%, to $2.14.<\/p>\n
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels NZ decreased 7c, or 2.23%, to $3.07; Metro Performance Glass fell 7c, or 7.07%, to 92c; and Livestock Improvement Corporation was down 8c, or 6.56%, to $1.14.<\/p>\n
Gentrack rallied 9c, or 2.56%, to $3.61; Allied Farmers increased 2.5c, or 3.79%, to 68.5c; and Radius Residential Care was up 1.5c, or 3.75%, to 41.5c.<\/p>\n
Mainfreight gained 20c<\/a> to $69.20, and Infratil was up 3c to $14.78 after hitting intraday highs of $15.20 and $70.20, respectively.<\/p>\n Michael Hill gained 1.5c or 3.70% to 42c after reporting a 2% increase in group sales to A$654.7m ($783.96) for the year ending June 28. Operating earnings (ebit) are expected to be $22m-$24m, up 44-57%, compared with the previous year.<\/p>\n The jewellery retailer said sales in Australia, including Bevilles, were up 4.8%; Canada increased 7%; and NZ was up 3.6% after \u201ca marked acceleration in the second half\u201d.<\/p>\n T&G Global, established 129 years ago, was up 1c to $2.23 after selling its fresh produce division<\/a> and retaining its premium apples and venture fruit operations.<\/p>\n Bidfood is buying T&G Fresh\u2019s Fijian and Pacific Islands export business. Pukekawa Holdings and Ashsadeep Company are increasing their stake by purchasing T&G\u2019s 51% shareholding in Unearthed Produce, and J&P Turner \u2013 from the original founding family \u2013 will buy the New Zealand fresh produce business.<\/p>\n T&G Global is retaining the Australian blueberry business and will be integrated into VentureFruit. T&G Global\u2019s German parent company, BayWa AG, is going through a restructuring process after facing losses in renewable energy development.<\/p>\n Meridian Energy, unchanged at $5.70, has received the key remaining resource consent from the Palmerston North City Council to repower its Te Rere Hau Wind Farm in the Tararua Ranges.<\/p>\n The windfarm will increase generation to 172MW with 40 new turbines \u2013 seven times the annual energy production of the existing operation.<\/p>\n