NZ sharemarket enjoys good week with fourth gain

The New Zealand sharemarket posted its fourth gain in five trading days and was again led by heavyweight Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, attracting renewed investor support.

Friday, May 3rd 2024, 6:30PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index had another strong afternoon and closed at 11,938.08, up 64.04 points or 0.54%, after reaching a morning low of 11,809.59.

The index finished the week ahead by 1.13% and has risen more than 1.4% for the year to date.

There were 83 gainers and 51 decliners over the whole market on volumes of 26.42 million share transactions worth $96.35m.

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said it had been a rollercoaster week, but the local market finished on a better tone. It was now focusing on earnings outcomes with the latest company reporting season beginning in a week’s time.

“We had a strong lead from the United States with solid results from Apple and Amazon and the Federal Reserve providing a band-aid and discounting an interest rate hike.”

Solly said there have been a modest number of downgrades on the NZ market and the earnings forecasts (during the reporting season) will determine whether the market has found its bottom.

The major US indices roared back to life on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.85% to 38,225.66 points; the S&P 500 increased 0.91% to 5,064,2; and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.51% to 15,840.96.

Apple was up more than 7% in after-hours trading to US$183.46 (NZ$307.06) after beating analysts’ expectations with quarterly revenue of US$90.75 billion, including US$23.9b or a record 14% growth in services such as App Store, Apple TV and Apple Pay. Amazon gained 3.2% to US$184.72.

Local market

At home, market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was up 44c to $28.55. Solly said the stock is benefitting from research that concluded weight-reducing drugs only had a small impact on obstructive sleep apnea treatment. This allayed investor concerns.

Ebos Group, hit by selling during the MSCI Large Cap Index review, was up 33c to $36; Meridian Energy increased 9c to $6.10; Auckland International Airport gained 12c to $7.86; a2 Milk added 6c to $6.57; Freightways collected 8c to $8.48; and Serko rose 13c or 3.94% to $3.43.

Gentrack increased 15c or 1.85% to $8.25; Investore gained 3c or 2.73% to $1.13; Turners Automotive added 7c to $4.31; Restaurant Brands increased 6c or 1.74% to $3.50; and Bremworth was up 1.5c or 3.45% to 45c.

Pacific Edge continued to rebound, up 0.007c or 7.29% to 10.3c.

In the retirement sector, Summerset Group was up 16c to $10.786, and Ryman Healthcare was down 8c or 1.99% to an 11-year low of $3.94.

Mainfreight shed 50c to $69; Infratil decreased 10c to $10.88; Delegat Group shed 10c to $6; Ventia Services declined 10c or 2.48% to $3.94; Seeka eased 8c or 2.76% to $2.82; and Rakon was down 3c or 3.09% to 94c.

Synlait Milk continued to drift, down 3.5c or 7.37% to 44c; Accordant Group declined 2c or 3.33% to 58c; NZ Oil & Gas shed 1.5c or 3.26% to 44.5c; and Geneva Finance decreased 1.5c or 5.56% to 25.5c.

Dual-listed stocks Ampol fell $6.58 or 14.28% to $39.50, and ANZ Bank was down 80c or 2.54% to $30.70. Heartland Group was up 1c to $1.04 after becoming the first NZ bank to buy an Australian authorised deposit-taking institution – Challenger Bank.

Heartland has a 42% market share in reverse mortgages across the Tasman.

Chatham Rock Phosphate, down 0.004c or 2.48% to 15.7, has made an application for the Chatham Rise project to be considered as a listed project in the Fast Track Consenting Bill.

Tags: Market Close