Market commentary

WELLINGTON: Investors pulled the handbrake on the rising New Zealand sharemarket, and its 11 day bullrun came to an end on solid trading.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 56.88 points, or 0.45%, to 12,486.73, after hitting an intraday low of 12,456.37. 50 million shares worth $178.56 million changed hands.

Further profittaking in the market heavyweights drove the market down. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 89c, or 2.49%, to $34.86 on trade worth $17.5 million, and a2 Milk shed 51c, or 3.14%, to $15.75 on trade worth $23.3 million.

Other leading index stocks fell in tandem. Chorus was down 16c to $8.61, Ryman Healthcare lost 26c to $14.85, Port of Tauranga declined 11c to $7.56 and Restaurant Brands decreased 17c to $12. Apple exporter Scales Corporation was down 5c to $5.10.

Meridian Energy reported its September retail sales were 12.7% higher than the same month last year, and its share price increased 22c, or 3.87%, to $5.90.

There were still some interesting dynamics, Fisher Funds senior portfolio manager Sam Dickie said.

‘‘You have the retirement village sector on fire,

Mainfreight has almost too much demand on its plate, and you have stocks like Serko kicking on.’’

Summerset Group Holdings and Oceania Healthcare both reached new highs, their share prices having tripled, or nearly tripled, since the market’s low day of March 23. Summerset climbed 30c or 3% to $10.30, after sitting at $3.71 in late March. Oceania rose 9c or 6.92% to $1.39, from 40c in late March.

Mr Dickie said the retirement village operators were the beneficiaries of the strong housing market, but they had shown during the Covid19 lockdown that they could look after vulnerable clients.

‘‘Summerset contacted 7000 people daily to make sure they were safe and well. I think you will start seeing an acceleration of people moving into retirement villages.’’

Mainfreight picked up another 75c and surged to $52.05, the highest price on the market.

‘‘Mainfreight hasn’t cut costs nor let their people go. The company has taken on market share at the fastest pace in its history. Their people have gone the extra mile and have been inundated by competitors’ customers.’’

Online travel provider Serko climbed 9c to $5.04, the beneficiary of a ‘‘permanent change’’ in its industry. Mr Dickie said travel agencies had reduced staff and were never going back to hiring more, and they had turned to Serko to fill the labour gap.

The Warehouse, which also owns Noel Leeming and Torpedo7, confirmed a 32% fall in net profit for the 53 weeks ending August 2, and its share price slipped 4c to $2.17. The government wage subsidy of $67.8 million saved The Warehouse from a $4.3 million loss.

Robotics firm Scott Technology was one of the day’s biggest movers, rising 13c, or 7.43%, to $1.88 after announcing it was designing and building an Xray boning system for highvalue cuts at the Alliance Group’s Lorneville processing plant near Invercargill.

Eftpos provider Smartpay rose 2.5c, or 3.88%, to 67c after reporting its Australian revenue increased 72% in the September quarter and its New Zealand business continued to show resilience with consistent revenue contribution. —