by BusinessDesk
The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 16.16 points, or 0.1%, to 12,748.07. Turnover was $298.4 million.
Respirator manufacturer, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was responsible for the weaker index as it fell 3.5% to $31.80 while the majority of other stocks moved higher.
“Against a backdrop of little fresh news, there is a hint of better risk sentiment, as global equity markets stretch to fresh record highs,” said BNZ’s Jason Wong.
The NZ market, while still far below its highwater mark, mostly followed the international lead in the absence of any news ahead of earnings results which kick off next week.
Port of Tauranga posted the day's biggest gain, climbing 3% back to $7.15 where it was in July. Some 110 workers at the port have tested negative for covid-19 after a potential exposure earlier in the week.
Chemical logistics firm DGL Group continues to perform well, up 2.5% to $2.05 today, having floated on the exchange at $1.40 in May.
Investors have been attracted to logistic firms as they are closely linked to economic performance. Freightways was up 2.2% at $13.19, Move Logistics was up 2.6% at $1.59, and Mainfreight climbed 0.8% to $85.19.
Electricity stocks have been climbing for the same reason. Today, Mercury NZ was up 2.5% at $6.895, Genesis Energy rose 2% to $3.39, and Meridian Energy gained 0.4% at $5.24.
Pole management firm IkeGPS said it completed its $19.2m share placement with “strong demand from new and existing investors including multiple new ASX institutional investors”.
Shares in the placement were sold at $1, which is a 14.6% discount to the stock's volume weighted average price over the five prior trading sessions. The shares closed at $1.11 today.
The New Zealand dollar climbed back above 70 US cents, a level around which it has fluctuated since June, as investor sentiment improved.
BNZ’s Wong said yesterday investors had been concerned covid’s delta variant would slow demand for commodities, but today oil prices were up as investors felt demand would be supported.
“The truth is that sometimes markets go up and sometimes they go down,” he said in a note.
The kiwi dollar was trading at 70.06 US cents by 3pm in Wellington, up from 69.71 cents yesterday.
Currency trader OFX said the kiwi was still “fundamentally undervalued”, but it would stay that way until the market finds some conviction.
The trade-weighted index was at 74.58 at 3pm, from 74.23 yesterday. The kiwi traded at 95.41 Australian cents from 95.28 cents, 77.51 yen from 76.92 yen, 59.78 euro cents from 59.42 cents, 50.67 British pence from 50.38 pence, and 4.5412 Chinese yuan from 4.5209 yuan.
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