New Zealand shares fell as the ongoing uncertainty around global trade continued to weigh on Fisher & Paykel Healthcare.
The S&P/NZX 50 index dropped 60.46 points, or 0.5%, to 12,844.59, with a turnover of $168.2 million.
Stock markets across Asia were mixed as China returned from its Lunar New Year public holiday amid ratcheting trade tensions with the US. China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.7% and Singapore’s Straits Times Index declined 0.3% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 index advanced 0.2% and Australia’s S&P/ASX index rose 0.5%.
F&P Healthcare weighed on the local market as it fell 3.7% to $34.60. The medical device maker has been pushed around in recent days as the on-again, off-again US tariffs on Mexico spooked some investors.
“You want things to go up in a straight line, but it’s still up from this time last year,” said Grant Davies, an investment adviser at Hamilton Hindin Greene. “They’ve structured their company to be fairly well entrenched in their markets.”
Serko led the local benchmark index lower, falling 3.8% to $3.51.
Sky Network Television declined 1.2% to $2.72 after chief financial officer Ciara McGuigan resigned, effective immediately, ahead of its first-half result where it will provide more details about its satellite migration plan. McGuigan was in the role for 11 months.
Meanwhile Genesis Energy posted the biggest gain on the benchmark index, rising 4.6% to $2.285.
Tower hit a nine-year high $1.40, ending the day up 4.2% at $1.355 after the general insurer raised its annual earnings guidance by $10 million to a range of $60 million-to-$70 million. That assumes the full use of its $50 million allowance for large events.
Safe travels
Air New Zealand was unchanged at 63.5 cents after the airline said group capacity shrank 1.2% in December from a year earlier, with underlying passenger revenue per available kilometre down 0.6% in the six months to Dec 31. Auckland International Airport fell 1.1% to $8.75, while Tourism Holdings rose 0.5% to $1.94 and SkyCity Entertainment Group gained 90.7% to 1.40.
Bremworth rose for a second day, up 9.1% at 60 cents after settling with its insurer over its claim for the damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle almost two years ago. The carpetmaker will receive another $42.2 million by the end of the month.
NZX rose 0.6% to $1.53 after the stock market operator’s January operating metrics showed activity on the local bourse remained elevated in the new year, with cash trading up 36% at $2.22 billion in the month from a year earlier on a 55% lift in the number of trades.
Separately, Australian fund manager Wilson Asset Management emerged as a substantial shareholder of the local stock market operator, with a 5% stake.
Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund units slipped 0.8% to $4.92 after milk prices rose at the latest Global Dairy Trade event, with the GDT index up 3.7%. Synlait Milk gained 5.5% to 58 cents, while The a2 Milk Co increased 1.1% to $6.59.
Government data showed New Zealand’s unemployment rate rose to 5.1% in the December quarter from 4.8%, the highest level since September 2020 but in line with the Reserve Bank’s forecasts.
“We envisage that demand for labour will continue to weaken until a modest recovery takes place from the second half of 2025, with firms carefully managing employee headcount in 2025,” ASB Bank senior economist Mark Smith said in a note. “With inflation close to the target midpoint and monetary settings still slowing the economy, further swift monetary easing looks appropriate to limit economic and labour market scarring.”
The kiwi dollar traded at 56.59 US cents at 5pm in Auckland from 56.47 cents at 7am, up from 56.05 cents yesterday.
The latest government auction by the Treasury’s Debt Management unit attracted strong demand for the $225 million of 2027 bonds, paying a coupon of 4.5%, with a 5.6 times coverage ratio and an average yield of 3.54%. The $225 million of 2032 bonds had a coverage ratio of 3.9 times and $50 million of 2051 notes was four times overbid.
Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from Ian Taylor on Unsplash.