Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said one broker had $350m worth of orders on his book. “It’s the madness of passive investment.”
Infratil, decreasing 28c or 1.96% to $14.02 on trade worth $49.9m, was downweighted by about 0.5% on the NZX.
Ryman Healthcare gained 4.5c, or 2.32%, to $1.98 on trade of 11.4m shares worth $22.6m, while Goodman NZ, down 0.005c to $1.91 on $38.2m worth of shares, slipped to a lower FTSE index.
Gentrack fell 11c, or 2.56%, to $4.19 after being removed from the S&P/ASX 300 Index.
Market leader Fisher & Paykel Healthcare fell 24c to $44.15, leading the heavy trading with $80.5m worth of shares changing hands.
Auckland International Airport was unchanged at $8.42 in trade worth $66.3m; Meridian Energy was up 14c, or 2.56%, to $5.61 on trade worth $59.1m; and Contact fell 13c to $8.67 on trade worth $40.9m.
Spark fell 7c, or 3.43%, to $1.97 as 18.9m shares worth $37.4m changed hands.
On Wall Street, the major indices rebounded after the Federal Reserve raised its cash rate range by an expected 25 basis points.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.61% to 51,778.04 points; S&P 500 increased 1.14% to 7637.76; and the technology-driven Nasdaq Composite rose 1.69% to 26,418.3.
Goodson said: “There was a teeny bit of relief on the bond yield front, and the Fed was more hawkish in its outlook statement. It was somewhat logical the Fed was on a tightening path, which is good for an inflation outcome.”
The US 10 Year Treasury Note yield went under 5% to 4.943%, as did the New Zealand 10 Year Government Bond to 4.957%.
Oil prices also weakened, with Brent Crude trading at US$103.90 (NZ$181.45) a barrel.
Other stocks
At home, the Selected Price Indexes were up 0.2% in August, slightly stronger than ANZ’s forecast of 0.1% and confirming the downside risk to its third-quarter estimate of 0.8%.
Food prices rose 0.3% and 1.9% for the year, diesel rose 8.6% and 45.8%, petrol increased 2% and 17.9%, and alcohol and tobacco rose 0.4% and 2.9%.
Domestic accommodation fell 5.5% in August and 0.3% for the year; overseas accommodation fell 6.3% and 3.8%, and domestic airfares fell 10.9% and 6.5%.
Skellerup decreased 22c or 2.89% to $7.40; Sky TV declined 10c or 2.89% to $3.36; KMD Brands was down 7c or 3.58% to $1.88; and The Warehouse shed 4c or 6.25% to 60c.
Genesis Energy was down 7c, or 2.61%, to $2.61; Ebos Group shed 36c, or 1.78%, to $19.84; and Comvita dropped 3c, or 3.75%, to 77c.
Port of Tauranga added 32c, or 4.05%, to $8.23; Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund was up 20c, or 2.52%, to $8.15; Rua Gold gained 5c, or 3.03%, to $1.70; and Santana Minerals increased 4.5c, or 7.14%, to 67.5c.
Napier Port was up 12c, or 3.35%, to $3.70; Tourism Holdings gained 8c, or 2.91%, to $2.83; Air New Zealand increased 2c, or 5.26%, to 40c; Kiwi Property improved 2.5c, or 2.81%, to 91.5c; and Foley Wines collected 2c, or 3.77%, to 55c.
In technology stocks, Vista Group rose 14c, or 5.05%, to $2.91; and Eroad gained 4c, or 4%, to $1.04.
Mercury Energy was up 13c, or 1.90%, to $6.98 after confirming at its annual meeting full-year 2027 operating earnings (ebitdaf) guidance of $1.075 billion.
The guidance reflected the lift in new generation capacity being available all year, continued focus on cost discipline, and assumed production of 4.1 terawatt hours of hydro generation from assets on the Waikato River, Mercury told shareholders.
Automation firm Scott Technology fell 7c, or 2.51%, to $2.72. Scott has launched a new palletiser – handling more than 35 cases a minute in a small footprint – and has already sold four systems to a major poultry processor in the US.
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