Rising kiwi weighs down export companies
Big exporters struggled on New Zealand’s benchmark index yesterday thanks to the NZ dollar lifting against the greenback while the overnight fall from the tech-heavy Nasdaq also affected technology stocks across the board.
The NZ dollar was sitting at 62.42 US cents on Monday and was up almost 2 US cents to 64.57 by the end of yesterday — a rise from 63.95 US cents on Thursday.
The S&P/NZX 50 index fell 29.4 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 11,730.52. Turnover on the main board was light at just $81.1 million.
Jarden wealth management director Greg Main said it had been a mostly quiet week for the market and investors were waiting for Monday so earnings season could finally kick off.
Export stocks to feel the pinch were manufacturer Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and logistics firm Mainfreight. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare fell 3.2 per cent to $20.84 while Mainfreight was down by 0.43 per cent to $78.90. Fletcher Building was also down 1.1 per cent to $5.40 by the end of the day. On the technology front, travel booking software company Serko was down for most of the day before ending up 0.56 per cent to $3.62. Church management software firm Pushpay fell 1.6 per cent to $1.27. Cinema software provider Vista Group dropped 2.7 per cent to $1.90 and software company Rakon fell by 3.2 per cent to $1.51.
The electronic components design and manufacturing company told shareholders at its annual meeting that its annual earnings could fall by as much as a third as a global shortage of chips eases.
Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund shot up by 4.4 per cent to $3.10 after Fonterra told the NZX the dairy co-op’s upcoming annual results announcement was looking positive. Main said it was a “good upgrade” from Fonterra.
Dairy exporter a2 Milk was up 1 per cent to $5.37 and Synlait Milk ended the day down 0.9 per cent to $3.21.
Contact Energy will be the first company out the gate with its full-year earnings on Monday and the energy company was up slightly by 0.13 per cent to $7.71 by the end of the day. Genesis Energy shares were flat at $2.99 as was Meridian Energy at $5.16, while Manawa Energy rose 0.8 per cent to $6.23.
Cannasouth announced that it hopes to raise $4.1m by selling shares at a 23 per cent discount to help fund the medicinal cannabis company’s distribution and manufacturing. The company will sell shares at 30 cents each in a 1-for-10 pro-rata renounceable rights offering, a discount to the 39 cents the stock closed at on Thursday. Cannasouth shares ended the day up 3.9 per cent at 40.5 cents.