Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said policy uncertainty, through the election debates, was weighing on confidence in some parts of the market.
“Fisher & Paykel has a low exposure to the New Zealand economy and has become a superstar stock. It has amazing world-class medical products and they have been working on them over a decade.”
He said the company reported next month and was expected to at least meet the market’s earnings forecast.
“The policy uncertainty is certainly weighing on cyclical stocks like retirement,” Solly said.
In the US, the technology-driven Nasdaq Composite declined 1.25% to 27,193.34 points after it was revealed that unlisted OpenAI had not met its previous annual revenue guidance of $70 billion, but it said it would reach that target by the end of the year.
The oil price softened after President Donald Trump said the US would not attack Iran before the midterm elections early next month, and Brent Crude was trading at US$102.9 a barrel.
In Australia, AI developer Firmus cancelled its initial public offer – promoted as the biggest float on the market since Telstra in 1997 – because of poor interest from investors amid concerns about the company’s debt and lack of detail.
Local stocks
At home, Infratil was down 18c to $13.20; Spark shed 3c to $1.98; Stride Property declined 3c or 2.78% to $1.05; Hallenstein Glasson decreased 27c or 1.83% to $14.50; and Briscoe fell 14c or 3.12% to $4.35.
Meridian Energy was up 9c to $5.53; Freightways increased 24c or 1.99% to $12.29; a2 Milk – another stock with low exposure to the New Zealand economy – gained 18c or 2.22% to $8.30; Port of Tauranga added 12c to $8.23; and Tower collected 4c or 1.94% to $2.09.
In the retirement sector, Summerset was down 15c or 2.2% to $6.68; Oceania Healthcare decreased 2c or 2.99% to 65c; and Ryman Healthcare was up 3c or 1.79% to $1.71.
KMD Brands was up 6.5c or 3.49% to $1.93 after it was reported that New York-based Authentic Brands Group, which owns Reebok, Sports Illustrated, Quicksilver and Billabong among others, was one of four groups looking at making a takeover offer.
Other gainers were Argosy Property up 2c or 2.04% to $1; Delegat Group increasing 15c or 3.73% to $4.17; Green Cross Health adding 3.5c or 1.81% to $1.965; and Heartland Group up 2.5c or 2.08% to $1.22.
Mainfreight gained 64c to $66.14; AFT Pharmaceuticals collected 9c or 1.98% to $4.64; Gentrack was up 9c or 2.23% to $4.12; Millennium & Copthorne Hotels NZ increased 10c or 3.32% to $3.11; and Synlait Milk rose 3c or 6.82% to 47c.
NZ Rural Land, unchanged at 93c, is selling its five Hawke’s Bay orchards to a partnership managed by Craigmore Sustainables for $18.84m, subject to Overseas Investment Office consent.
The orchards were operated by Kiwi Crunch Farms which went into administration, and Christchurch-based Craigmore works with global capital partners to build and manage farms, orchards and forestry businesses in New Zealand.
Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our Business newsletter – your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.