Market commentary

WELLINGTON: The New Zealand sharemarket kept climbing its peak, and Ebos Group — a solid performer for many years — struck a new high.

On its 10th successive daily rise, the recordbreaking S&P/NZX 50 Index gained a further 96.96 points, or 0.78%, to 12,453.85. There were 92 gainers and 48 decliners on heavy volume of 47.05 million shares worth $197.46 million.

Hamilton Hindin Greene investment adviser Jeremy Sullivan said the outlook for lower interest rates was the continuing theme for the market, although it could be building in the likelihood of a correction.

‘‘But the United States markets were strong overnight and by and large they are continuing their rallies on the expectation of a further economic stimulus,’’ Mr Sullivan said.

Ebos, which started in Christchurch 98 years ago as Early Bros Dental and Surgical Supplies, surged 61c, or 2.4%, to $26 on trade worth $13 million and reached an alltime high. The previous day, the firm — now a supplier of healthcare and animal products in Australia and New Zealand — had broken its previous record of $25.50 set on November 13 last year.

Mr Sullivan said Ebos had been a strong performer for the past decade.

‘‘Supplying district health boards with medical supplies during the Covid pandemic would be good for business.’’

It planned further acquisitions and had plenty of headway in its gearing, although the company had said at its annual meeting that it did not expect the same level of growth over the next quarter, he said.

There were good rises right across the market. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare increased 66c to $35.36, and a2 Milk gained 37c, or 2.35%, to $16.12.

Mainfreight was up 54c to $48.50, Pushpay Holdings moved 15c to $9.25, and Ryman Healthcare rose 28c to $15.17.

Network operator Chorus received a favourable pricing ruling from the Commerce Commission and its share price increased 6c to $8.81. Fishing company Sanford gained 7c to $5.60.

The duallisted banks had strong rises on the back of the Australian Budget, which delivered tax breaks and an economic stimulus that promised less defaults on loans. ANZ was up 74c, or 3.63%, to $21.11 and Westpac increased 61c, or 3.06%, to $20.55.

Heartland Group Holdings, which became the first New Zealand bank to offer a home loan below 2%, climbed 2c to $1.42. SkyCity bounced back with a 8c, or 2.62%, rise to $3.13, and online travel provider Serko increased 7c to $4.80.

Contact Energy lost a lot of what it gained the day before through profittaking and fell 16c to $7.94, Genesis Energy was down 8c, or 2.51%, to $3.11, and Restaurant Brands declined 35c, or 2.87%, to $11.85.

The Warehouse, the country’s largest listed retail company, has told First Union it is laying off about 600 people at 92 stores — and expect more redundancies to follow. Its share price went up 5c, or 2.33%, to $2.20.

On Wall Street, technology stocks came alive, driving the leading indices on a strong rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 250.62 points, or 0.88%, to 28,837.52, the S&P 500 Index was up 1.64% to 3534.22, and the technologydriven Nasdaq Composite increased nearly 300 points, or 2.56%, to 11,876.26. —