NZX down more than 1 per cent, THL up despite profit drop

The New Zealand sharemarket gave up the few gains it made this week to close down more than 1 per cent.

The benchmark NZX50 was down 1.2 per cent, or 143.61 points, at 11,633.52 at yesterday’s close, after a 0.3 per cent loss on Thursday.

‘‘It is broadly across the market that we are down, some green shoots have come from the likes of Infratil, Sanford, NZ Refining,

Heartland as well,’’ said Hamilton Hindin Greene investment adviser Jeremy Simpson.

Bank owner Finance Heartland Group posted a $72 million annual profit on Thursday, and earlier in the week said it had arranged a A$142m loan funded by overseas institutional investors. Shares in Heartland rose 0.79 per cent to $1.27.

‘‘Their profit of $72m, which included some impairments, has seen their stock rerated by a few analysts, so obviously better than expected in terms of their book and how they are doing,’’ Simpson said.

Top stock Fisher & Paykel Healthcare continued to be sold down, losing a further 0.6 per cent to $32.25. That followed a 1.7 per cent loss on Thursday. Fellow blue chip stock A2 Milk has also been losing ground following some big gains after Covid hit, and fell a further 1 per cent yesterday to $17.70.

‘‘There is a trend which started in America a week or so ago now, an unwinding of the Covid trades, stocks that have done very well as a result of Covid,’’ Simpson said.

‘‘People are thinking forward, thinking about vaccines and the possibility of them being rolled out next year, and obviously the stocks that have done really well in the face of Covid may not be so in vogue next year. So Fisher & Paykel is down around 15 per cent from its highs, similar volumes in A2 Milk.’’

In contrast, Tourism Holdings, which has fared badly during the pandemic due to a lack of international visitors, was the biggest gainer yesterday, jumping 9.8 per cent to $2.35 despite a big profit drop. THL posted an annual profit of $20m, down almost 30 per cent on a year earlier but slightly better than forecast. ‘‘They are not paying a final dividend, so ... a somewhat disappointing result, but once again it seems to be a better than expected story,’’ Simpson said.

Elsewhere on the market, Auckland Airport was down 2.5 per cent at $6.93, Air NZ lost 2.2 per cent to $1.33, Spark was down 2.5 per cent at $4.57, and Infratil gained 1.4 per cent to $4.97. Fishing company Sanford was up 3.6 per cent at $5.77, and NZ Refining rose 1.7 per cent to 61c.

Asian shares were slightly higher yesterday despite an overnight fall on Wall Street.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed, down 0.1 per cent at 5887.30 in late afternoon trading.

Another slide in technology companies helped pull stocks lower on Wall Street, extending losses from the day before. The S&P 500, which measures the 500 biggest US companies, lost 0.8 per cent to close at 3357.01, after having been down 1.7 per cent earlier.

The sectors that include Amazon, Facebook and Apple took the heaviest losses.

The selling came a day after the Federal Reserve said it would keep interest rates at nearly zero for years to support the wheezing US economy. The statement failed to encourage Wall Street, and the S&P 500 recorded its first loss in four days on Wednesday.

‘‘People are thinking forward, thinking about vaccines.’’ Jeremy Simpson

Investment adviser