by BusinessDesk
The S&P/NZX 50 Index gained 58.30 points, or 0.5%, to 12,709.14. Turnover was $194 million.
US sharemarkets recovered their losses overnight despite there being little news or change in conditions. NZ’s defensive market, which managed to dodge the fall yesterday, joined the rally today to climb half a percent.
However, BNZ rate strategist Jason Wong warned that geopolitical tensions with China and the continued spread of covid-19 – which were causing concern yesterday – haven’t suddenly vanished.
“Relative to the situation on Monday morning, we’re still in the same position where global growth is booming but the downside risks related to covid are growing again,” said ASB economist Mike Jones.
These pandemic risks have once again made Fisher & Paykel Healthcare an attractive investment as its sales track global infection numbers.
Shares in the healthcare provider climbed 0.8% to $31.85, up for a second day and helping to boost the index.
Banking stocks which jumped yesterday on the promise of share buybacks also continued to gain. ANZ Banking Group was up a further 1.8% at $29.40 and Westpac Banking Corp rose 1.1% to $26.23.
Stock market operator NZX led the market higher as it rose 5% to $1.91 after being hit with a harsh selloff yesterday.
Fletcher Building followed a similar path, bouncing 3.3% to $7.27 after weakness yesterday.
The construction sector was strong in general with Steel & Tube Holdings surging 5.3% to $1.20 on booming demand and the promise of a dividend.
The company said it expects to report earnings before interest and tax for the year ended June between $20m and $22m, including one-off property-related gains of $2.8m.
Electricity generator Mercury NZ was up 3.2% at $6.69 after Jarden analysts observed it was “noticeably cheaper” than peer Meridian Energy – which fell 0.2% to $5.33 in turn.
Genesis Energy also climbed 2.4% to $3.45 as the analysts reiterated their positive view of the stock despite being disappointed it was unable to find a buyer for the Kupe oil and gas field.
Hallenstein Glasson Holdings finished the day unchanged at $7.31, even after telling investors that 13 Glassons stores in Sydney will remain closed until further notice.
“As with previous lockdowns there has been an increase in online sales which has helped to lessen the overall sales impact in Australia,” the group said.
The spread of the delta covid variant has caused investors and strategists to re-think some of their positions, including predictions of a high NZ dollar.
Some have reconsidered how aggressively the Reserve Bank of NZ will tighten its policy, when the country could be hit with another wave of covid at any point.
“We all realise that NZ could easily suffer the same fate on one slip-up at the border triggering some community transmission of the virus,” said BNZ’s Wong.
The kiwi dollar was trading at 69.20 US cents by 3pm in Wellington, down from 69.40 cents yesterday.
The trade-weighted index was at 73.69 at 3pm, from 73.82 yesterday. The kiwi traded at 94.53 Australian cents from 94.48 cents, 76.06 yen from 76.00 yen, 58.76 euro cents from 58.84 cents, 50.80 British pence from 50.74 pence, and 4.4831 Chinese yuan from 4.5000 yuan.
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