Market commentary

WELLINGTON: New Zealand stocks eked out a slight gain despite a weaker finish on Wall Street on Friday, with selling in Fisher & Paykel Healthcare being the highlight of the day.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index ended at 12,768.84, up 37.71 points or 0.30%.

There were 85 gains and 47 falls among the 33.8 million shares (worth $127.6 million) traded.

Market leader respiratory products maker Fisher & Paykel Healthcare fell by 60c or 1.7% to $35.35, in sympathy with AustralianUS competitor ResMed, which the market views as FPH’s closest peer.

ResMed said last week that it had experienced flat thirdquarter sales. It also said its sleep device sales had risen to prepandemic levels in some nations, helping offset slowing ventilator demand in others.

Forsyth Barr investment adviser Dan Stratful said the market was focusing on the homeware side, which had fallen into the background while hospital devices took centre stage due to Covid19.

EBOS gained 65c, or 2%, to $30.40 while Mainfreight firmed 97c, 1.3%, to $73.37.

Duallisted Westpac, which has talked about spinning off its New Zealand arm, gained $1.41, or 5%, to $28.280 after reporting a 14% lift in firsthalf earnings.

Now that exchange traded fund (ETF) activity in the big power companies had abated, it looked like some semblance of normality was returning, with investors focusing on fundamentals, Mr Stratful said.

On that score, Contact Energy gained 11c, or 1.5%, to $7.65, while Genesis Energy finished at $3.40, down 4c.

A2 Milk firmed 8c, or 1%, to $7.73 despite uncertainty surrounding its continued membership of the MSCI New Zealand index.

Mr Stratful said the jury was still out as to whether the stock would exit the influential index, which is used extensively by the index tracking ETFS.

A statement is expected on May 12, and any changes are expected to take effect on May 27.

Substantial selling in a2 Milk is expected to take place if the stock is removed.

Shares in Foley Wines were flat at $1.80 after the company said its harvest for 2021 would be well down on previous years.

In other movements, Trustpower finished at $8.75, down 9c or 1.02%.

New Zealand freight and logistics company, TIL Logistics closed at $1.06, up 6c or 6%, after announcing the placement of $8.2 million of mandatory convertible notes to some of its largest shareholders and other wholesale investors to repay bank debt. —