SkyCity surges on asset sales; NZX 50 ends week up
New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index sailed through a turbulent week, as SkyCity Entertainment Group climbed out of the doldrums with investors welcoming its asset sale programme, while Vulcan Steel extended its rally for a second week and Air New Zealand shrugged off surging oil prices that had weighed on other carriers.
Friday, July 24th 2026, 6:39PM
by Paul McBeth
SkyCity sells Grand Hotel (Image: SkyCity)
The NZX 50 dipped on Friday as the latest iteration of President Donald Trump’s tariff regime knocked the likes of Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Port of Tauranga, and the renewed concerns about hefty capital spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure sapped Infratil.
Outside the top 50, Move Logistics surged after saying it returned to profit in the June year, while AFT Pharmaceuticals advanced on Australian investment house Pitt Street Research starting coverage of the Maxigesic maker with a hefty valuation on the firm.
And the High Court tipped the Chance Voight group of companies into liquidation, saying the evidence of insolvency was “overwhelming”.
Shoring up the defences
The NZX 50 fell 23.02 points, or 0.2%, to 13,772.29 on Friday, with 18 stocks declining, 28 gaining and four unchanged. That trimmed the weekly gain to 0.6%.
SkyCity posted the biggest gain on the week as it hit a three-month high, climbing 13% as it finalised a $74.5 million property sale and signed a heads of agreement to divest its Grand Hotel in Auckland. Among the week’s other top gainers, Vulcan Steel rose 5.7% and Air NZ advanced 4.8%.
Meanwhile, Port of Tauranga posted the steepest decline on the week, falling 3.4%, while healthcare products maker Ebos Group slipped 3% and travel software developer Serko dropped 2.9%.
The S&P/NZX 20 index slipped 0.2% to 7,776.61 on Friday, while the NZX 20 futures contract for September was untraded.
Turnover across the main board was $107.5 million, of which F&P Healthcare accounted for $16.2 million as it declined 1.2% on Friday to $39.42, making it one of the bigger drags on the NZX 50.
Among other major weights on the local benchmark, Infratil declined 1.5% to $15.53 and Port of Tauranga fell 2% to $8.45.
The relatively defensive NZX fared better than most stock markets across Asia, as investors remained on edge over the pace of AI investment after Tesla and Alphabet’s latest splurge, and as Brent crude oil remained above US$100 a barrel amid the heightened conflict in the Middle East.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.8% in late trading, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 3% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 1.2%.
Tariff time
US President Donald Trump added to the unease with a new tariff regime, imposing duties of between 10% and 12.5%, claiming various trading partners hadn’t done enough to eradicate forced labour from their supply chains. New Zealand, which rejected the findings, faces a 12.5% levy.
The kiwi dollar fell to 57.75 US cents at 5pm in Auckland from 58.18 cents yesterday, while the yield on New Zealand 10-year government bonds jumped 8 basis points to 4.8%.
Fletcher Building posted the biggest decline on the NZX 50, falling 2.9% to $3.73, while SkyCity pared some of the week’s gains as it dropped 2.3% to 64.5 cents on the day.
Gentrack posted the largest gain on the day, up 5.2% at $3.65, while Napier Port Holdings advanced 3.3% to $3.75 and Contact Energy increased 3.2% to $9.35.
Tourism Holdings gained 2.1% to $2.93 after Forsyth Barr analysts Andy Bowley and Hugh Lockwood raised their target price on the stock by 5 cents to $3.40 after its positive trading update this week. The rental campervan operator was the most heavily traded stock on the day with a volume of 3.1 million shares changing hands, the bulk of which was in a single trade at $2.89 a share.
“The quality of the guidance upgrade for FY26 can be questioned given the largest apparent driver is lower interest costs, yet investors should not discount that underlying trading has improved, with robust forward bookings, particularly in North America,” Bowley and Lockwood said in a note to clients.
“The M&A backdrop adds complexity to management’s messaging, though the simple read-through is positive for bid value but doesn’t remove deal execution risk, which remains a key feature given the current share price discount to the non-binding offers provided to date.”
Outside the benchmark index, Move surged 15% to 20 cents after the logistics company said it returned to positive earnings in the June year as it crossed the half-way point of a four-year turnaround plan.
AFT climbed 6.8% to $4.27 after Pitt Street Research started covering the stock, saying the well-established pharmaceutical firm was undervalued. The investment house valued dual-listed AFT at A$10.55 a share on its base case. The shares traded at A$3.60 on the ASX.
And the Financial Markets Authority welcomed a High Court-ordered liquidation of Bernard Whimp’s Chance Voight group, saying the judgment confirmed the regulator’s concerns about the management of the companies. Associate Judge Dale Lester said the evidence of insolvency was overwhelming, with an unsustainable business model. Interim liquidator John Fisk, Lara Bennett and Malcolm Hollis of Teneo were appointed liquidators.
Paul is a staff writer for Good Returns based in Wellington.
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