NZ sharemarket starts week down 0.5%

Cancer diagnostic company Pacific Edge slumped 55% after failing to get the backing for continued United States Medicare payments for its Cxbladder tests, and the New Zealand sharemarket joined global moves with a fall.

Monday, January 13th 2025, 6:42PM

by BusinessDesk

After a sell-down on Wall Street at the weekend, the S&P/NZX 50 Index traded weakly till a late turnaround and closed at 12,827.33, down 68.65 points or 0.53%.

Volumes were light, with 30.08 million shares worth $71.1 million changing hands – nearly half of them being Pacific Edge on trade of 13.12 million shares worth $764,491.

Fed cuts

Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said the markets were extremely weak around the region following a stronger-than-expected US jobs report.

“Some analysts were wondering whether they will see any US Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year. As always happens, the New Zealand market fell less on a big down day,” Goodson said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite both fell 1.63% to 41,938.45 points and 19,161.63, respectively. The S&P 500 declined 1.54% to 5,827.04 points.

Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had fallen 1.25% to 8,190.3 points at 6pm NZ time.

The December non-farm payrolls report showed the US economy added 256,000 jobs, up from 212,000 in November and well above the forecast of 212,000.

Unemployment decreased to 4.1%, and the US 10-Year Treasury Note yield climbed to 4.769%, its highest level since late 2023.

The NZ dollar wilted to its lowest level since late 2002 (apart from the US50c it reached following the Global Financial Crisis in early 2009) after trading at US55.64c against the stronger American greenback.

Pacific Edge

At home, Pacific Edge fell 7.4c or 55.22% to 6c after telling the market that Medicare contractor Novitas finalised a non-coverage determination that would end reimbursement for its Cxbladder tests. If not challenged, the payments will finish on February 23.

Pacific Edge said Novitas continued to misunderstand the current standard of care in evaluating hematuria patients and the important role biomarkers can play in stratifying patients with hematuria into those who would benefit from further potentially more invasive medical attention and those who would not.

The cancer diagnostic company said it would pursue a preliminary injunction and legal challenge while further reviewing its operational structure and cash burn in line with the plan to regain reliable Medicare coverage.

Pacific Edge will submit a Medicare coverage reconsideration request to Novitas based on the Journal of Urology’s publication of the Strata study and the updated Analytical Validation studies of Triage, Detect and Monitor.

Goodson said it was deeply frustrating for Pacific Edge, which has a product that appears to be a better widget, but it is having trouble commercialising it, and the clock is ticking on its cash reserves (of $28.5m).

“It has become even more important for the Cxbladder tests to be included in the American Urology Association standard of care guidelines which are due out any time now. If that happens, Pacific Edge will be well placed. It’s not the end of the road for them,” Goodson said.

Other stocks

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 36c to $37.55; Gentrack fell 66c or 5.3% to $11.80; Ebos decreased 22c to $36.23; Infratil eased 16c to $11.69; Mainfreight declined 62c to $71.58; and Contact Energy shed 15c to $9.35.

Port of Tauranga declined 12c or 1.86% to $6.33; Skellerup eased 8c to $5.07; Westpac Bank fell $1.28 or 3.55% to $34.78; ANZ Bank was down 50c to $31.70; and Delegat Group shed 13c or 2.61% to $4.85.

In the retail sector, Briscoe Group declined 9c or 1.82% to $4.85; Hallenstein Glasson decreased 15c or 1.8% to $8.18; and Michael Hill was down 1c to 61c.

Summerset eased 13c to $12.65; Serko declined 8c or 2.09% to $3.75; Tower was down 2.5c or 1.83% to $1.34; and Foley Wines decreased 2c or 3.45% to 56c.

Meridian Energy collected 7.5c to $5.95; Synlait Milk was up 1c or 2.44% to 42c; Savor increased 2.5c or 11.36% to 24.5c; Promisia Healthcare gained 2c or 5.71% to 37c; Being AI improved 1c or 3.45% to 30c; and Blackpearl Group added 2c or 1.98% to $1.03.

Napier Port was down 4c to $2.56 after earlier reporting increased trade for the first quarter ending December compared with the previous corresponding period.

Container volumes were up 4.1% to 44,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units); bulk cargo increased 9.5% to 0.91m tonnes; and log exports were down 11% to 0.73m tonnes. Cruise ship visits were up 1 to 24.

AFT Pharmaceuticals was up 2c to $2.98 after telling shareholders in a New Year letter it is expecting record sales of more than $200m in the 2025 financial year, and it is focused on achieving $300m turnover by the close of the 2027 financial year.

Tags: Market Close