MARKET CLOSE: Shares fall; MRP, Meridian, Genesis decline

New Zealand shares fell as Contact Energy and MightyRiverPower were sold by investors looking to crystallise recent gains. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare slipped from a record high.

The NZX 50 Index fell 26.999 points, or 0.5%, to 5819.969. Within the index, 30 stocks fell, 14 rose and six were unchanged. Turnover was $119 million.

The benchmark index has gained 5% since the start of the year, pushed to record levels as investors search for income-paying equities in the face of a globally low interest rate environment. Traders sold yield-paying stocks as they looked to pocket recent gains in the face of Greece defaulting on its debt and exiting the euro zone and uncertainty about when the US Federal Reserve will lift interest rates.

Contact dropped 2.6% to $5.29. MRP fell 2% to $2.73. Meridian Energy declined 1.6% to $2.18. Genesis Energy slipped 1.1% to $1.87.

"Given the good run, people are looking for a reason to sell, not that it has to happen, but it's what you get when the market has had a good run," said Robert Garden, investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners. "People are probably more conscious of banking a little bit of profit at the moment, just with the uncertainty that is around."

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare declined 0.3% to $7.09, from Friday's fresh record of $7.11. The breathing apparatus manufacturer and exporter benefited from a weaker kiwi as it translated offshore earnings back into the local currency.

Fletcher Building, New Zealand's largest listed company, fell 0.8% to $8.46. Spark New Zealand, formerly Telecom Corp, slipped 0.2% to $2.76. Ryman Healthcare, the country's largest public retirement village operator, was unchanged at $8.10.

Outside the benchmark index, Abano Healthcare Group was unchanged at $7.40 after it appointed Richard Keys to take over as head of the specialist medical investment firm, when Alan Clarke leaves later in the year.

On the New Zealand Alternative Index, Cooks Global Foods, which is taking the Esquires coffee chain outside of New Zealand and Australia, was unchanged at 12c after it narrowed its annual loss to $3.99 million, from a year earlier loss of $5.1 million while expanding its global footprint.

(BusinessDesk)