NZ sharemarket gets wake-up prod thanks to Fisher & Paykel

An earnings upgrade from heavyweight Fisher & Paykel Healthcare powered the New Zealand sharemarket to its highest close in nearly eight months, and a hot Wall Street continued to set new records.

Friday, March 22nd 2024, 6:18PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index traded strongly following an early-morning rise and finished at 11,978.62, up 62.91 points or 0.53% after reaching an intraday high of 12,002.47.

The index was last at this peak on Aug 1 last year with 11,980.41 points. It gained 1.8% this week and is up the same amount for the year to date.

There were 75 gainers and 55 decliners on the main board, with 34.01 million shares worth $113.84m changing hands.

In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average neared 40,000 points for the first time in its 128-year history after gaining 0.68% to 39,781.37.

The S&P 500 broke through 5200 points for the first time with a 0.32% increase to 5241.53, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.2% to a new high of 16,401.84 – all because the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged and indicated three rates cuts this year.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Manawa Energy announced increased earnings forecasts following dairy giant Fonterra's strong first-half result the day before.

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said the upgrades caught investors on the hop.

“They were healthy upgrades and we haven’t had them for a while. People have been observing the slowing economy, but the sharemarket is not the economy, and it is a reminder that the market is not dead; it’s just sleeping. But maybe it’s waking up now.”

Solly said Fisher & Paykel’s respiratory devices are performing better than the market expected, and the company is doing a good job delivering products to the customers. Manawa had a chunky upgrade for them under new management.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which has the highest 12.75% weighting on the NZX, surged $1.40 or 5.68% to a 10-month high of $26.04 on trade worth $16.15m after upgrading its full-year revenue guidance to $1.73 billion, from $1.7b, and net profit to $260m-$265m, from $250m-$260m.

The market leader said its hospital consumables continued to attract solid demand through the second half of the financial year, and the Evora Full obstructive sleep apnoea mask was performing well.

Manawa Energy rose 16c or 3.76% to $4.42 after increasing its full-year operating earnings (ebitdaf) guidance to $142m-$147m, up from $120m-$140m. Capital expenditure remained unchanged at $65m-$80m.

Manawa told the market it had obtained resource consent from the Marlborough district council for its Argyle Solar Farm. It also has land options for a 100MW windfarm in Marlborough and a 200MW ac solar opportunity in the Mackenzie Basin.

Among other energy stocks, Vector was up 8c or 2.12% to $3.85, and Mercury was down 12c to $6.78.

The Warehouse continued to rise off the mat, gaining 3c or 2% to $1.53; so is SkyCity increasing 4c or 2.04% to $2; Rakon rose 6c or 5.26% to $1.20; and a2 Milk reached a 12-month after adding 13c or 1.96% to $6.77.

Hallenstein Glasson was up 10c to $6.25; AFT Pharmaceuticals increased 11c or 3.87% to $2.95; PGG Wrightson also rose 11c or 5.37% to $2.16; Green Cross Health increased 3c or 2.88% to $1.07; NZ Oil & Gas improved 2c or 4.76% to 44c; and Foley Wines was up 3c or 3.03% to $1.02.

Ebos Group was down 40c to $35.60; Auckland International Airport, with the second highest weighting of 9%, declined 14.5c to $8.18; Tourism Holdings shed 12c or 3.77% to $3.10; Vista Group decreased 7c or 3.52% to $1.92; Restaurant Brands gave up 7c or 2.02% to $3.40; and CDL Investments was down 3.5c or 4.35% to 77c.

In the banking sector, ANZ declined 78c or 21.49% to $30.57; Westpac fell 93c or 3.23% to $27.85; and Heartland Group decreased 3c or 2.61% to $1.12.

Tags: Market Close