Market commentary
WELLINGTON: A strong day for leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, benefiting from a slightly weaker kiwi, kept the New Zealand sharemarket in a reasonable frame of mind.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index had a lunchtime awakening, climbing to an intraday high of 13,176.63, but otherwise traded flatly, finishing down 32.73 points or 0.25% at 13,093.24. The index ended the week with a gain of nearly 0.5%.
There were 63 gainers and 77 decliners over the whole market on a volume of 45.7 million share transactions worth $154.65 million.
Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said the local market had underperformed its peers during the year. It was trying to get itself off the mat and be more constructive on positive results.
‘‘We’ve seen a ripper of a reporting season in the United States but there are countervailing factors such as inflation driving bond yields higher and the Chinese economy is slowing,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ve got another busy week coming up with annual meetings and this will give investors a further guide to earnings. Auckland International
Airport gave some glimmer of hope at its meeting (on Thursday) with the reopening of the Victoria and New South Wales borders.’’
Mr Solly said the latest road map, or traffic lights system, would be helpful because they would be able to plan for a reopening.
Meeting virtually this coming week are Chorus, Skellerup Holdings, Air New Zealand, Freightways, Heartland, Genesis Energy, Port of Tauranga and SkyCity Entertainment.
The NZ dollar was trading at US71.63c against the American greenback at 5.45pm NZ time, after reaching 71.73c during the day. Market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare rose 55c or 1.82% to $30.85 on trade worth.
Auckland International Airport was up 21.5c or 2.74% to $8.07; while a2 Milk continued its rocky ride, falling 30c or 4.01% to $7.18.
PGG Wrightson rose 17c or 4.07% to $4.35; Delegat Group increased 34c or 2.4% to $14.50;
Briscoe Group gained 20c or 2.86% to $7.20; and Pacific Edge, with its capital raising out of the way, was up 3c or 2.08% to $1.47.
Scott Technology was up 5c to $3.13; Rakon was up 3c to $1;96; Foley Wines rose 6c or 3.7% to $1.68; Accordant Group collected 4c or 2.09% to $1.95; Wellington Drive Technologies increased 0.005c or 2.7% to 19c; and TruScreen Group was up 0.003c or 3.53% to 8.8c.
Transport technology firm EROAD recovered 15c or 2.94% to $5.25 after announcing it is showcasing its new dashcam at the American Trucking Association’s trade show this weekend. The Clarity Solo dashcam is a costeffective video solution for promoting driver safety and protection from false claims.
Port of Tauranga fell 14c or 2.06% to $6.64, its lowest level since late April last year. Ebos Group fell 57c to $35.27; Contact Energy declined 8c to $8.11; and Genesis Energy shed 5c to $3.235.
Summerset Group Holdings was down 24c to $14.66; Fletcher Building fell 10c to $7.13; Serko fell 17c or 2.11% to $7.88; SkyCity Entertainment lost 7c or 2.18% to $3.14; and Smartpay Holdings was down 4c or 4.49% to 85c.
Property companies Stride fell 8c or 3.36% to $2.30; Investore was down 3c to $1.86; Property for Industry declined 4c to $2.91; and Argosy slipped 2c to $1.57.
ANZ fell 11c to $29.45 after telling the market its second half statutory and cash profit would be affected by $129 million in remediation and restructuring charges. —