\u2019Markets are pensive\u2019<\/p>\n
Solly said, \u201cWe saw selling across the board, with investors making the decision to move into other asset classes such as bonds now that they were over 5%.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a while since people have looked at bond yields, and markets are now wondering whether they have peaked in the near term.\u201d<\/p>\n
Solly said investors were wary going into the weekend about potential military action in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
\u201cUS President Donald Trump is sending reinforcements and stepping up the pressure point. The markets are pensive.\u201d<\/p>\n
A third US aircraft carrier with 2000 troops onboard is heading for the waters around Iran as the war enters its eighth month. A 2.5-million-barrel supertanker was hit by an unknown projectile, causing a fire as it passed through the Hormuz Strait.<\/p>\n
Bond yields did soften, with the US 10 Year Treasury Note at 5.26% after hitting 5.304%, the highest level since May 2002. The NZ 10 Year Government Bond yield fell slightly to 5.069%, and Australia\u2019s to 5.375%.<\/p>\n
Oil prices remained volatile, trading at US$102.30 (NZ$182.26) a barrel and swinging from US$108.48 to US$96.70 during the week.<\/p>\n
In other Asian Pacific markets, the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index had fallen 2.64% at 5.45pm NZ time; the Japanese Nikkei 225 was down 1.03%; and the S&P\/ASX 200 was up 0.66% to 8671.1 points after a big fall the day before.<\/p>\n
Other stocks<\/p>\n
At home, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 46c to $45.99; Contact Energy eased 15c to $8.46; Summerset dropped a further 20c or 2.70% to a near six-year low of $7.20; Serko fell 8c or 6.15% to $1.22; and Vista Group shed 6c or 2.12% to $2.77.<\/p>\n
Ebos Group declined 47c or 2.45% to a seven-and-a-half-year low of $18.75. Solly said the market was watching for a potential sell-down in Sigma Healthcare \u2013 the group behind Chemist Warehouse \u2013 and investors may be selling Ebos to buy Sigma.<\/p>\n
Port of Tauranga fell 37c or 4.39% to $8.05 after telling the market that tangata whenua parties have appealed the fast-track decision to approve the Stella Passage wharf development.<\/p>\n
Heartland Group fell 3c, or 2.34%, to $1.25 after its New Zealand chief executive, Leanne Lazarus, was confirmed as the new boss of the proposed TSB Heartland Bank. Kerry Boielle is the current CEO of New Plymouth-based TSB Bank.<\/p>\n
The establishment panel will become the board of the merged bank: Bruce Irvine (chairman), Andrew Dixson, John Harvey, Kate Mitchell, and Shelley Ruha are current Heartland directors, and Mark Darrow and Mike Schubert are from TSB.<\/p>\n
Other decliners were Sanford, falling 19c or 2.88% to $6.40; Oceania Healthcare, down 2.5c or 3.4% to 71c; Air NZ, down 2c or 4.88% to 39c; and Comvita, shedding 2c or 2.53% to 77c.<\/p>\n
In the property market, Vital Healthcare Trust decreased 3.5c or 1.91% to $1.80; Precinct shed 2c or 2.11% to 93c; and Argosy was down 2c or 1.96% to $1.<\/p>\n
Hallenstein Glasson added 35c, or 2.37%, to $15.10; Third Age Health increased 14c, or 3.16%, to $4.57; Marlin Global was up 3.4c, or 5.01%, to 71.2c; Kingfish fund collected 4.4c, or 4.13%, to $1.10; and Bremworth gained 2c, or 2.63%, to 78c.Steel & Tube rose 3.5c, or 11.86%, to 33c, while Vulcan Steel fell 20c, or 2.92%, to $6.65.<\/p>\n
Cervical cancer screening company TruScreen fell 0.001c, or 7.14%, to 1.3c after its CEO, Martin Dillon, resigned<\/a> for personal reasons and is leaving at the end of the month. Chairman Tony Ho will take over in the interim.<\/p>\n Winton Land, up 0.005c to $1.15, after disclosing that new chairman Michael Stiassny has bought his first shares<\/a> in the company \u2013 245,232 for $278,384.<\/p>\n