Here are the key changes to know about in the New Zealand equity market; NZX50 declines -0.3% as Gentrack, Kathmandu Brands, a2 Milk and Air New Zealand lift while Infratil, Channel Infrastructure, Ryman Healthcare and Vista Group fall

Here are the key things you need to know about in the NZX markets over the past 24 hours. Changes are as at 3:00 pm and may change when the market closes at 4:45 pm.

WHAT THE NZX 50 INDEX IS DOING
The NZX 50 Index declines -0.5% today, taking its recent weakness to further losses across the short-term. The index is now down -2.2% over the past five trading days and -1.7% over the past month. Despite the pullback, the market remains higher over the long term, with the NZX 50 up +2.6% over six months and +2.2% over the past year. There were 34 gainers in the equity market and 50 decliners.

THE MAIN GAINERS
Gentrack (GTK, #47) was the strongest performer among today’s gainers, rising +4%. The software company has also gained +2% over the past five trading days and +4% over the past month, although its longer-term performance remains under significant pressure. Gentrack is down -46% over six months and -60% over the past year, making today’s gain a relatively small recovery from its substantial longer-term decline. Kathmandu Brands (KMD, #50) was the second-strongest gainer, rising +2% and extending its recent momentum. The retailer has gained +4% over five days and +18% over the past month, although it remains down -36% over six months and -45% over one year. a2 Milk (ATM, #8) increased +1%, taking its five-day gain to +3% and one-month gain to +9%. However, the stock remains down -26% over six months and -17% over the past year. Air New Zealand (AIR, #27) also rose +1%, although its recent and longer-term performance remains weaker, with the stock down -2% over five days, -10% over one month, -14% over six months and -36% over the past year. 

THE MAIN DECLINERS
Infratil (IFT, #2) was the weakest performer among the leading decliners, falling -3%. The infrastructure investor has declined -6% over the past five trading days and -9% over the past month, although its longer-term performance remains positive, with gains of +27% over six months and +11% over the past year. Channel Infrastructure (CHI, #24) also declined -3%, taking its five-day performance to -2%. Despite the recent weakness, the stock remains up +14% over six months, although it is down -43% over the past year. Ryman Healthcare (RYM, #18) fell -2%, extending its recent decline to -6% over five days and -9% over one month. The retirement village operator remains under pressure over the long term, down -18% over six months and -23% over the past year. Vista Group (VGL, #40) also declined -2%. The company has fallen -1% over the past month and remains down -14% over one year, although its six-month performance is notably stronger, with the stock up +46%. 

SMARTSHARES EFTs

KEY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Meridian Energy (MEL, #3) reported strong hydro conditions in August, with national hydro storage rising to 155% of historical average by 7 September and Meridian’s monthly inflows reaching 145% of average. Waitaki and Waiau catchment storage stood at 161% and 172% of average respectively, supporting a positive outlook for hydro generation heading into summer. National electricity demand was -0.3% lower year-on-year, while Meridian’s retail sales volumes fell -4.7%, with declines across residential, small and medium business, agriculture and corporate customers, partly offset by +5.1% growth in large business sales. NZAS average load increased to 578MW from 565MW a year earlier. Meridian said strengthening El Niño conditions could bring drier weather to some regions but also increased rainfall to hydro catchments, supporting its confidence in maintaining healthy storage levels.

Auckland Airport (AIA, #11) recorded 785,000 international passenger movements in August, broadly unchanged from the same month last year, despite international seat capacity declining -3%, which lifted the average load factor to 81%, up 2.6 percentage points. US and Chinese passenger movements increased +14% and +9%, respectively, while Australian, New Zealand and UK passenger movements declined. Domestic passenger movements fell -5% as seat capacity decreased -8%, although the load factor increased to 86%. Overall passenger movements at Auckland Airport declined -3% to 1.45 million, while total aircraft movements fell -8%. Queenstown Airport continued to perform strongly, with total passenger movements increasing +8%, including an +18% rise in international passengers and +1% growth in domestic passengers.