Pushpay Holdings and A2 Milk shares in NZ up

New Zealand equities rallied at the Asian level, driven by export-oriented growth stocks, Pushpay Holdings and A2 Milk, two of the most volatile shares of the stock market.

The S & P / NZX 50 index rose 40.14, or 0.5%, to 8,713.96. Within the index, 24 stocks rose, 15 fell and 11 remained unchanged. The turnover amounts to 130.2 million dollars.

Asian stocks followed Wall Street values, while investors were encouraged by optimistic comments from White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow that the US could reach an agreement with China. Both countries are facing an 18-month trade dispute that has weighed on global economic growth.

Growth stocks were hardest hit by trade tensions. This increase came in parallel with the rise in US interest rates, which dampened the attractiveness of equities.

Pushpay, which derives most of its revenue from the US, rose 4.9% to $ 3.22 on average and extend its recovery from its 12-month low last week. A2, which benefited from strong Chinese demand for its products, rose 3.7 percent to $ 10.78.

Stuart Williams, head of equities at Nikko Asset Management, said that investors had underestimated the importance of A2's supply agreement with China State Farm's property. State, while the Chinese authorities were examining e-commerce laws.

A2 has been very volatile but has outperformed the market today, he said.

New Zealand has tried to remain cautious about the tensions between the United States and China, given the size of the two export markets.

However, today, the Government 's Communications Security Office has rejected Spark New Zealand' s request to use Huawei equipment for the construction of a 5G mobile network. The intelligence agency cited a risk to national security related to the use of the Chinese supplier.

Spark shares remained unchanged at $ 4.12, with lighter trading than usual of 1.6 million shares. They had traded $ 4.16 before Huawei's announcement.

Williams said the impact of the decision on the company was not clear, but was very interesting given the close trade ties that New Zealand had with the United States and China.

"That the government is cautious about this, but that their advisor is final is very interesting," he said.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was the most active stock, with 2.3 million shares traded, compared with 639,000 on average over 90 days. Shares fell 1.9% to $ 13.20. Air New Zealand $ 3.09 over 2.2 million shares, while Fletcher Building increased by 0.2% to $ 4.70 on a volume of 2 million shares.

Of the other companies with more than one million shares traded, Kiwi Property Group unchanged at $ 1.38, as did Precinct Properties New Zealand at $ 1.42. Meridian Energy earned 1 percent at $ 3.17, Refrain slipped 0.3% to $ 4.85, Mercury NZ increased by 0.2% to $ 3.44 and Auckland International Airport was unchanged at $ 6.96.

Outside the benchmark, To evolve the education fell 25% to a record 30 cents after posting $ 32 million in child care and a loss of $ 27.5 million.

Metro Performance Glass rose 10% to 44 cents after Bain Capital became a major shareholder.

Tower fell by 4% to 72 cents after postponing its intention to return its dividends to the next fiscal year. The insurer reduced its annual loss, although the increase in the number of claims weighed on its underlying results.

Asset Plus increased by 1.7% to 58.5 cents after the real estate investor increased its profits by one-third in the first half thanks to lower financing costs and less operating expenses high.