Mark Lister, investment director with Craigs Investment Partners, said the rally was back on, with hopes the ceasefire would turn into a sustainable resolution of some kind.
“It’s great to see markets more stable, shaking off the nervousness and recovering their losses. It just needs another good night on Wall Street and the markets will be back to new highs,” Lister said.
“But I still can’t help thinking that it is still a fragile situation over there in the Middle East.”
The International Monetary Fund has forecast economic growth of 2.1% for New Zealand this year, compared with its previous forecast of 2.2%.
The leading energy stocks, sought-after for their dividends, had a stronger day. Meridian increased 14c or 2.54% to $5.65; Mercury gained 13c or 1.97% to $6.73; and Contact gained 12c to $9.49.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 44c to $38.49; Ebos Group rebounded 80c or 3.63% to $22.85; Air New Zealand increased 1.5c or 3.41% to 45.5c; My Food Bag gained 1.5c or 6.67% to 24c; and The Warehouse added 2c or 2.67% to 77c.
Ryman Healthcare increased 7c or 3.38% to $2.14 after reporting 331 sales of retirement living occupation right agreements for the three months ending March, including 81 new sales and 250 resales – up 10% on the previous corresponding period.
Total sales for the 2026 financial year were 1410 – 348 new and 1062 resales – and Ryman said net sales application exceeded turnover levels for the first time since the contract changes in late 2024.
Seeka added 8c to $5.15 after telling shareholders at the annual meeting that it expects to pack between 45 million and 47 million trays of kiwifruit this season, with 18 million already packed. Zespri is forecasting 220 million trays, with 83 million packed to date.
Seeka said there was no damage to sites after Cyclone Vaianu, and the fuel situation was handled by the introduction of a weekly fuel adjustment factor paid to transport operators and the cost being passed back to growers.
Freightways was down 20c to $12.60; a2 Milk slid 15c to $9.40; Oceania Healthcare decreased 2.5c or 3.38% to 71.5c; and Green Cross Health declined 7.5c or 5% to $1.425.
Napier Port shed 13c or 3.55% to $3.53; Vista Group fell 8.5c or 4.51% to $1.80; and Vulcan Steel declined 30c or 4.55% to $6.30.
Manuka honey supplier Comvita, down 1c to 67c, announced a $30m rights offer at 65c a share and backed by Singapore-listed Fraser and Neave, which will finish up with a significant shareholding and a director on the board.
Fraser and Neave agreed to take up any shortfall in the rights offer and post-raise, if necessary, to accept a placement of new shares at 80c a share to take its shareholding to 19.9%.
Comvita must raise at least $25m to complete a refinancing package with its banking syndicate that involves a $20m working capital facility and up to $30m core debt facility expiring in September 2028.
Scott Technology, unchanged at $2.50, reported a 5% increase in revenue to $128m and 4% gain in net profit to $4.49m for the six months ending February.
Service fees of $43m now made up 33% of the total revenue, and Scott is paying an interim dividend of 4c a share on May 21.
Channel Infrastructure, down 2c to $3, reported a 2% increase in total fuel throughput to 931 million litres for the three months ending in March – with jet fuel the highest since the fourth quarter in 2018, and up 6% year-on-year.
Chorus, up 2c to $9.43, said total fibre connections more than offset the decline in copper connections for the first time since the 2013 financial year.
Total fibre connections at the end of March were 1.142 million, and Chorus said the expected retirement date of the copper network was brought forward to 2028, from 2030.
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