NZ dollar rise pinches big exporters

Big exporters struggled on New Zealand’s benchmark index today thanks to the NZ dollar lifting against the greenback while the overnight fall from the tech-heavy Nasdaq also bled into technology stocks across the board..

Friday, August 12th 2022, 6:05PM

by BusinessDesk

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 today – up from 63.95 US cents on Thursday.

The S&P/NZX 50 index fell 29.4 points, or 0.25%, 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 to roll around so earnings season could finally kick off.

Export stocks to feel the pinch today were manufacturer Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and logistics firm Mainfreight.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare fell 3.2% to $20.84 while Mainfreight was down by 0.43% to $78.90. Fletcher Buildings was also down 1.1% 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% to $3.62. Church management software firm Pushpay fell 1.6% to $1,27.

Cinema software provider Vista Group dropped 2.7% to $1.90.

Software company Rakon fell by 3.2% 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% to $3.10 after Fonterra told the NZX today that the dairy co-op’s upcoming annual results announcement was looking positive.

The co-op said earnings for the year to July 31 were at the top end of the 25 cents-to-35 cents per share guidance it had signalled.

Main said it was a “good upgrade” from Fonterra and the market was feeling positive about it.

Dairy exporter A2 Milk was up 1% to $5.37 and Synlight Milk ended the day down 0.9% to $3.21.

Contact Energy is the first company out the gate with its full-year earnings on Monday and the energy company was up slightly by 0.13% to $7.71 by the end of the day.

Genesis Energy shares were flat at $2.99 as were Meridian Energy at $5.16, while Manawa Energy rose 0.8% to $6.23.

Cannasouth announced that it’s hoping to raise $4.1m by selling shares at a 23% 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 yesterday.

Its shares ended the day up 3.9% to 40.5 cents.

Tags: Market Close