Record close for NZX50 as F&P Healthcare buoys market

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index didn’t quite touch an all-time high but did finish the trading session at a record close as heavyweight Fisher & Paykel Healthcare buoyed the local market in a broadly stronger day for trans-Tasman healthcare stocks.

Across the Tasman, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index was stronger in late trading after a smaller increase in consumer prices than economists were picking cooled expectations for an imminent rate hike by the Reserve Bank of Australia, although the kiwi dollar remains near a 12-and-a-half year low against its Aussie counterpart.

Meanwhile, junior miners Manuka Resources, Minerals Exploration and Santana Minerals rallied as the price of gold continues to break new ground in the increasingly volatile global environment following the US strike to topple Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro.

And milk processors largely ignored the increase in dairy prices at the first Global Dairy Trade auction of the year, with the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund nudging up and Synlait Milk unchanged.

New ground

The NZX50 rose 51.44 points, or 0.4%, to 13,715.02, a record close although its intraday high fell short of the peak in November. Within the index, 24 stocks gained, 17 fell and nine were unchanged. Turnover across the main board was $108.7 million, of which F&P Healthcare accounted for $30.5m as it rose 3.1% to $39.

The country’s biggest listed company joined a broader rally among healthcare stocks on both sides of the Tasman as Australia’s 4DMedical imaging firm surged 12% after signing up its fourth US medical centre for one of its products since getting Food and Drug Administration clearance. Ebos Group increased 0.3% to $27.73.

Australia’s ASX200 was up 0.3% in late trading after Bureau of Statistics figures showed a slower pace of inflation than economists expected, calming expectations for the Reserve Bank of Australia to hike its target cash rate early this year.

The kiwi dollar fell to 85.64 Australian cents at 5pm in Auckland from 86.24 cents yesterday, and traded at 57.88 US cents from 57.98 cents yesterday.

“There was quite a large divergence from what people’s expectations were,” said Jeremy Sullivan, an investment adviser at Hamilton Hindin Greene. “The kiwi’s under a lot of pressure and has been for some time.”

Sullivan said if New Zealand does start raising interest rates towards the end of the year, the changing interest rate differentials should support the kiwi against the greenback and moderate some of the weakness against the Aussie.

The leaders

Serko led the local benchmark index as it gained 3.5% to $3.23, while Vulcan Steel continued to rally following the pursuit of BlueScope Steel across the Tasman, rising 3% to $8.65.

Heartland Group Holdings posted the biggest decline on the NZX50, falling 1.3% to $1.175, while Property for Industry dipped 1.2% to $2.43 and Contact Energy decreased 1.2% to $9.23.

Precinct Properties NZ was the most heavily traded stock on a volume of 1.7 million as it increased 0.4% to $1.205.

Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund units nudged up 0.1% to $8.21 after prices rose at the latest GDT auction, snapping a run of nine declines through the latter half of last year. Synlait Milk was unchanged at 63 cents, while infant formula firm a2 Milk Co slipped 0.8% to $10.58.

Outside the benchmark index, the junior miners joined an industrywide rally as the gold price remains elevated amid the heightened geopolitical uncertainty since US President Donald Trump ordered the strike and capture of Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro. Gold futures eased 0.2% to US$4,487 an ounce at 5pm in Auckland.

Manuka Resources surged 34% to 16.1 cents after saying its New South Wales site is on track to start producing gold and silver in the June quarter, while Santana Minerals climbed 4.7% to $1.11 as it said it’s seeking a permit to explore an area next to its boundary.

Minerals Exploration gained 8.5% to 25.5 cents.

Reporting by Paul McBeth.