Tourism and travel companies surged on cheaper oil prices.
NZX50 misses rally across Asia as Meridian, F&P drag
Monday, June 15th 2026, 6:02PM
by Paul McBeth
New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index missed a rally across Asia as heavyweights Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Meridian Energy were among the major drags on the local benchmark.
Tourism and travel companies rallied on cheaper oil prices after US President Donald Trump reached a deal with Iran to end the months-long conflict in the Middle East, with Air New Zealand, SkyCity Entertainment Group and Tourism Holdings among the local leaders on the day.
Meanwhile, retailers were mixed after Statistics New Zealand figures showed spending on credit and debit cards was stronger than anticipated last month.
And retirement village operators Summerset Group Holdings and Ryman Healthcare were buoyed by steady house price data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.
This time’s for real
The NZX50 fell 33.28 points, or 0.3%, to 13,360.59, with 15 stocks declining, 30 gaining and five unchanged. The S&P/NZX 20 index futures contract for June rose 0.3% to 7,600 with 82 lots traded for a value of $624,000, with the NZX20 slipping 0.3% to 7,569.43.
Turnover across the main board was $169.5 million, of which Infratil accounted for $14.3 million as the infrastructure investor rose 1% to $14.95.
New Zealand was a standout under-performer across Asia as stock markets rallied on the peace deal reached between the US and Iran, ending the months-long conflict that triggered an energy shock felt around the world. Brent crude oil futures fell 4.6% to US$83.31 a barrel at 5pm in Auckland.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.3% in late trading, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 4.8% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.8%. The kiwi dollar rose to 58.57 US cents at 5pm from 58.25 cents last week.
“It’s a bit of a conundrum considering there’s a lot of positive news out there,” said Peter McIntyre, an investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners. “F&P Healthcare and Meridian are big constituents of the NZX50.”
F&P Healthcare led the NZX50 lower, falling 3.3% to $38.16 and was one of the few exporters to decline amid the stronger kiwi dollar, with Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund units edging down 0.1% to $7.21.
Among other exporters, Sanford rose 2.7% to $7.20, Scales Corp gained 2.5% to $6.25 and Skellerup Holdings advanced 2.4% to $6.47.
Power companies were broadly weaker, joining a selloff of energy companies in Australia as oil prices tumbled and Woodside Energy played down a report that it was engaging with Exxon Mobil about a potential transaction.
Meridian declined 2.5% to $5.80 after its latest monthly operating report showed national hydro storage remained high, despite May being a dry month in many regions.
Contact Energy slipped 1.4% to $9.42 and Mercury NZ declined 1.9% to $6.83. Genesis Energy bucked the trend, rising 0.4% to $2.60.
Flying high
Travel and transport companies were the biggest beneficiaries of the slump in oil prices, with Air New Zealand posting the biggest gain on the day, up 8.3% at 45.5 cents, Auckland International Airport rose 2.6% to $8.44 and travel software developer Serko climbed 4.8% to $1.645.
Tourism Holdings advanced 4.2% to $2.72, having granted its suitors due diligence last week.
SkyCity Entertainment Group climbed 4.3% to 48.5 cents on an unusually large volume of almost 13 million shares, about 6.9 million of which were traded in two orders at 48.75 cents.
Forsyth Barr analysts Paul Laxton Koraua and Andy Bowley trimmed their target price on the casino operator to 90 cents from $1, while keeping their ‘outperform’ rating, mapping out a pathway to strong free cash flow generation and an attractive dividend yield.
Summerset rose 4.9% to $8.59 and Ryman gained 1.3% to $2.33 after REINZ figures showed house prices nudged up last month, even as sales volumes dipped and inventory remained high.
Oceania Healthcare was unchanged at 74 cents after signalling plans to raise money by selling six-year bonds.
ANZ economists said the data was a touch stronger than they anticipated and suggested an upside risk to their forecast for prices to fall 2% this year, although the broad consensus was that the property market would stay muted.
Retailers were mixed after Stats NZ figures showed spending on electronic cards rose 1.7% last month, more than reversing a fall in April.
KMD Brands fell 2.4% to 8 cents, while Briscoe Group rose 3.9% to $4.79 and Hallenstein Glasson Holdings was unchanged at $10.11. Warehouse Group fell 0.8% to 61.5 cents.
Paul is a staff writer for Good Returns based in Wellington.
| « NZX50 climbs 1.8% this week on prospect of Middle East peace |
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