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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 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,\u201d Lister said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I still can\u2019t help thinking that it is still a fragile situation over there in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n
The International Monetary Fund has forecast economic growth of 2.1%<\/a> for New Zealand this year, compared with its previous forecast of 2.2%.<\/p>\n The leading energy stocks, sought-after for their dividends, had a stronger day. Meridian<\/a> increased 14c or 2.54% to $5.65; Mercury<\/a> gained 13c or 1.97% to $6.73; and Contact<\/a> gained 12c to $9.49.<\/p>\n Fisher & Paykel Healthcare<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Ryman Healthcare<\/a> 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 \u2013 up 10% on the previous corresponding period.<\/p>\n Total sales for the 2026 financial year were 1410 \u2013 348 new and 1062 resales \u2013 and Ryman said net sales application exceeded turnover levels for the first time since the contract changes in late 2024.<\/p>\n Seeka<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n