NZX50 dips 0.2% this week as Middle East tensions stay high
Ryman Healthcare enjoyed its best week in almost two years.
Friday, April 24th 2026, 7:38PM
by Paul McBeth
New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index ended the week on a down note, with Gentrack caught up in the latest global bout of software selling to lead the benchmark lower in a broadly softer week for the local market as relations between the US and Iran remain fraught.
Ryman Healthcare posted its biggest weekly gain since July 2024 after Forsyth Barr analysts slapped an outperform rating on the stock, saying the retirement village healthcare was too cheap to ignore at those levels.
Meanwhile, a2 Milk Co rallied on Friday after winning a trademark case with rival infant formula firm Care A2.
And the Reserve Bank’s latest credit conditions survey showed dwindling demand to borrow by households and small businesses in the coming six months, reversing a pick-up in activity since September.
Uncertain times
The NZX50 decreased 9.99 points, or 0.1%, to 12,874.94 on Friday, with 22 stocks declining, 19 gaining, and nine unchanged. Turnover across the main board was $106.6 million, of which Infratil accounted for $25.5 million as it dipped 1.3% to $12.22.
The benchmark slipped 0.2% across the week as investors continued to fret over tensions in the Middle East, where the US and Iran are making little headway in returning to the negotiating table. The Polymarket prediction market is pricing in a 29% chance of a lasting truce by the end of May and a 45% chance by the end of June, while Brent crude oil futures edged up 0.1% to US$105.13 a barrel at 5pm in Auckland.
“Hopes are fading on a quick Iran deal and the software selloff came back – it’s been a risk-off tone heading into the long weekend,” said Peter McIntyre, an investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners. “The focus next week will be on US earnings and what’s happening in the Middle East, and whether anything occurs in the next couple of days.”
KMD Brands posted the sharpest decline in the week, falling 6.1% to 6.2 cents after completing its $65.3 million capital raising, which needed sub-underwriters to pick up about $2.6 million of stock in the shortfall bookbuild.
Tourism Holdings fell 5.9% across the week to end Friday at $2.07, while Fisher & Paykel Healthcare dropped 5.4% to $35.98, joining Australian health stocks lower after Cochlear plunged on a profit warning.
Turning a corner
Ryman Healthcare jumped 14% in the week to end Friday at $3.64 after rallying on Forsyth Barr’s upgraded rating on the record-low earnings multiples the stock has been trading at.
Craigs’ McIntyre said Ryman had a fantastic week.
“It’s one of those stories where the capitulation gets so bad that it turns around the corner,” he said.
Stock markets were mixed across Asia on Friday, with Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index down 0.2% in late trading, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 1% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was marginally higher.
Blue-chips Infratil, F&P Healthcare and Meridian Energy – which dipped 0.5% to $5.59 – were the main drags on the NZX50, with Gentrack leading the benchmark lower as it dropped 8.9% to $5.80, a shade above the two-and-a-half year low $5.79 it touched during Monday’s trading session.
Heartland Group Holdings fell 1.3% to $1.135 with the Reserve Bank’s latest credit conditions report showing a collapse in expected credit demand in the coming six months, with the Middle East conflict threatening to squeeze borrowers’ ability to meet their repayments.
The report showed increased credit demand for residential mortgages, commercial property and large corporates in the six months ended March 31.
Air New Zealand slipped 1.1% to 45.5 cents after Moody’s Ratings affirmed the airline’s Baa1 credit rating, while downgrading the outlook to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’.
Ryman posted the biggest gain on the day, up 3.6%, while Vulcan Steel advanced 3% to $6.22 and ANZ Group Holdings rose 2% to $44.59.
The a2 Milk Co increased 1.9% to $9.13 after winning a trademark dispute in Australia with Care A2 over its rival’s use of A2 branding. Supplier Synlait Milk increased 3.4% to 45.5 cents.
Outside the benchmark index, T&G Global was unchanged at $2.48 after a report in The Australian’s DataRoom that its plans to break up its structure in a staged sale discouraged potential suitor Roc Partners, which walked away from the process.
The kiwi dollar fell to 58.53 US cents from 58.85 cents yesterday, and declined to 82.15 Australian cents from 82.34 cents.
Paul is a staff writer for Good Returns based in Wellington.
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