Infratil rides the AI wave, leads NZX50 higher

F&P Healthcare and Ebos were caught in the souring on Aussie health stocks.

Monday, May 11th 2026, 6:42PM

by Paul McBeth

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index overcame a soft day across the Tasman, where another profit warning from CSL weighed on the broader health sector, with Infratil and doing the heavy lifting, buoyed by the rally among chipmakers on Friday.

Air New Zealand, Tourism Holdings and Channel Infrastructure were among the day’s gainers as the government refined its fuel response plan, beefing up diesel supplies and working on a specific regime for jet fuel.

US President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s peace offer as totally unacceptable, pushing up oil prices and leading to a lengthening the odds of a permanent deal on the Polymarket prediction market.

And Pacific Edge entered a trading halt as it prepares to raise $24 million in a placement to institutional investors and a smaller offering to retail investors, to shore up the bladder cancer detection test maker’s balance sheet as the firm pursues a resumption to its coverage under the US Medicare programme.

The AI economy

The NZX50 index rose 35.35 points, or 0.3%, to 13,210.48, with 16 stocks gaining, 28 declining, and six unchanged. The S&P/NZX 20 index futures increased 0.3% to 7,515 with 50 lots traded on turnover of $374,000, with the NZX20 up 0.4% at 7,515.43.

Turnover across the main board was $154.6 million, of which Infratil accounted for $24.4 million as the infrastructure investor climbed 4.6% to $15.73.

“Infratil was up on the back of the strong AI trade in the US on Friday, with record highs for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq,” said Peter McIntyre, an investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners. “Infratil had robust volumes running through it and some of those big names were doing the heavy lifting.”

Energy companies were also buoyed by the artificial intelligence tailwind, with Meridian Energy advancing 1.6% to $5.85 and Mercury NZ rising 0.7% to $6.85. Broadband network operator Chorus increased 1.2% to $10.25.

Stocks across Asia were mixed, with South Korea’s Kospi jumping 5.2% in late trading, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dipped 0.3%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.6% in late trading, with a 17% slump for CSL after the biotech firm cut its earnings outlook again.

McIntyre said that weighed on Australia’s market and health stocks more broadly, with F&P Healthcare falling 0.6% to $35.30 and Ebos down 0.7% at $21.25.

The soft trading across Tasman had weighed on the local market through much of the session until the Infratil rally propelled into positive territory at the end of the day.

Tourism Holdings rose 2.9% to $2.16, Air NZ gained 2.4% to 43.5 cents and Channel Infrastructure gained 1% to $3.13 after finance minister Nicola Wilis and associate energy minister Shane Jones announced tweaks to the fuel response plan, including finalising a supply deal with Ampol’s Z Energy to procure an extra 90 million litres of diesel.

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment figures today showed a dip in fuel stocks of petrol, diesel and jet fuel, holding well above minimum requirements.

Brent crude oil futures rose 4.3% to US$105.72 a barrel at 5pm in Auckland and traders on the Polymarket prediction market are pricing in a 21% chance of a permanent peace deal between the US and Iran by the end of the month and a 39% chance by the end of June after President Trump rejected Iran’s response to the White House’s proposal, calling it totally unacceptable.

International sales

The kiwi dollar was little changed at 59.41 US cents at 5pm from 59.45 cents last week.

Exporters were mixed, with Skellerup Holdings down 0.7% at $6.05 and Scales Corp slipping 0.8% to $6.25, while Sanford rose 1.7% to $7.98, a2 Milk Co gained 0.9% to $8.05 and Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund units advanced 0.5% to $6.68.

New Fonterra chief executive Richard Allen told BusinessDesk he planned to keep growing the dairy cooperative remaining businesses since it shed the Mainland consumer arm, with future investments likely to be in New Zealand.

Transport and infrastructure stocks on the NZX were broadly weaker, with Napier Port declining 2.4% to $3.62, Port of Tauranga declining 1.4% to $8.20, Auckland International Airport slipping 1.2% to $8.25 and Mainfreight falling 1.3% to $57.90.

The Australian Financial Review’s Street Talk column today reported Rothschild & Co and Cameron Partners have launched the sale process for Mogan Stanley Infrastructure Partners’ StraitNZ business, which runs the Bluebridge ferry, with a deal tipped to fetch as much as $1 billion.

Vulcan Steel posted the steepest decline on the NZX50, falling 4.6% to $6.25, while ANZ Group Holdings declined 3.6%, or $1.61, to $42.50 as it shed rights to its upcoming 83 Australian cents per share dividend.

KMD Brands was the most heavily traded stock on the NZX50 with a volume of almost 5 million shares, rising 1.6%, or 0.1 of a cent, to 6.5 cents.

Outside the benchmark, the Smart emerging markets exchange traded fund fell 1.2% to $2.011 on a volume of 6.4 million units – almost 5% of its issued units.

Trading of Pacific Edge shares was halted before the market opened as the biotech firm sought to raise $18 million in a placement to institutions at 17 cents per share, with a $6 million retail offer to follow at the same price. The shares closed at 17.4 cents on Friday.

Paul is a staff writer for Good Returns based in Wellington.

Tags: Market Close