The index for the three months ending March was down by 0.2%, or $9.8 million, in market capitalisation on the final quarter of 2010. The total market capitalisation for the index is now $4.11 billion.
In the six months to March, the index increased by $147 million, or 3.7%, compared with the NZX-50's 8.2% increase, the 6.3% increase in the ASX All Ordinaries and the 14.2% increase in the Dow Jones in the same period.
Deloitte corporate finance partner Paul Munro yesterday said the year started positively for the companies on the indexes but January's growth was wiped out by the February 22 earthquake.
"No-one emerged unscathed in the aftermath of the quake - even companies which weren't directly affected by the devastation. As everyone knows, business and consumer confidence plummeted, both in the South Island and the whole country."
However, Mr Munro was struck by the resilience in the market during March, with only a $145,000 decrease in market capitalisation for the whole index. That was a minuscule amount in percentage terms.
The real test for South Island companies would be how quickly they could recover from yet another major blow after last year's quake and Pike River, he said. "At this stage, it's too early to say when that bounce back will occur, but already, many commentators are talking about a gradual pick-up once reconstruction starts in earnest."
The hardest-hit index companies in February were Pyne Gould Corporation, Lyttelton Port Company and Ryman Healthcare, although the latter two bounced back to record growth in March.
The big success story for the quarter was Kathmandu Holdings, which recorded a 27.8% gain, or a $100 million market capitalisation increase. It moved up two places on the index to second place behind Ryman.
Other strong increases in market capitalisation were Ryman (up $35 million, or 3%) and Skellerup Holdings (up $28.9 million, or 12.7%).
Pacific Edge and Chatham Rock Phosphate (formerly Widespread Energy) recorded gains of 39.2% and 39.5% respectively for the quarter.
Mr Munro said Kathmandu's performance helped the retail sector end three consecutive quarters of decline and rebound with market capitalisation growth of $100 million for the quarter.
Other top-performing sectors were the property and manufacturing and distribution sectors, increasing by $33 million and $45 million respectively.
Another positive note was the commodity export sector, which continued to experience record highs, he said.
The index trailed all other indexes it benchmarked against during the quarter.
In the south of the South Island, Skyline Enterprises remained at No9 on the list at March 31 with market capitalisation of $186.4 million, down 9%; South Port moved up to 11th with $82.6 million, up 16.7%; Scott Technology moved up to 14th with $45.8 million, up 3.6%; and Silver Fern Farms went down two places to 15th with $44 million, down 32.8%.
