Market commentary

AUCKLAND: Leading stock Fisher & Paykel Healthcare again rescued the New Zealand sharemarket following a rout on Wall Street overnight and a slump across the Tasman.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 62.72 points, or 0.51%, to 12,201.80. Trading was steady, 46.64 million shares worth $188.03 million changing hands.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average in the United States plunged 943 points, or 3.43%, to 26,519.95 as the rise in Covid19 cases rattled investors. They were also disappointed that a $US2 trillion ($NZ3 trillion) economic stimulus has been put off until after next week's election.

The Dow Jones index is now on track for its worst weekly drop since March. The S&P 500 Index fell 3.53% to 3271.03 points, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 3.73% to 11,004.87. At 5.45pm, the S&P/ASX 200 Index in Australia had fallen 1.55% to 5964 points.

Salt Funds Management managing director Matt Goodson said, ‘‘compared with the falls we've witnessed in the US, the New Zealand market hung in well — with Fisher & Paykel up more than 2%. New Zealand does tend to be a lower beta market.’’

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare actually rose $1.03, or 2.86%, to $36.99 on trade worth $43 million, after climbing 5.2% the day before.

Mr Goodson said it was the beneficiary of the rise in Covid19 cases overseas through increased sales of its respiratory humidifier equipment.

The other heavyweight, a2 Milk, was down 35c, or 2.30%, to $14.86 on trade worth $13 million.

Skellerup Holdings surged 16c, or 5.39%, to a new high of $3.13 after saying at its annual meeting it expected to report a record net profit between $30 million and $35 million for the 2021 financial year — the past year's was $29.1 million.

Freightways also produced a strong trading update at its annual meeting and its share price rose 15c, or 1.82%, to $8.40, closing in on its high of $8.77 achieved on December 23. Freightways told the shareholders revenue increased 35% to $211.7 million for the first quarter of the 2021 financial year, compared with the previous corresponding period. Operating earnings were up 49% to $34.8 million and net profit climbed 43% to $19.2 million.

The energy stocks declined, Meridian down 10c to $5.29, Contact falling 5c to $7.45, Mercury losing 8c to $5.13, Genesis declining 7c to $3.13 and Trustpower down 15c to $7.10.

Mainfreight fell 11c to $53.50, Chorus decreased 16c to $8.34, Summerset Group Holdings was down 15c to $10.22 and Oceania Healthcare fell 5c to $1.33 after a strong run.

Air New Zealand announced the loss of 385 cabin crew jobs from December and its share price fell 5c, or 3.42%, to $1.41. The airline is also winding up a furlough arrangement for 500 international cabin crew.

Auckland International Airport was down 12.5c, or 1.74%, to $7.06 as the rising Covid19 cases abroad dampened hopes of international visitors arriving any time soon. —