Market close: F&P Healthcare surge drives sharemarket to big gain

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare surged $1.62 or 5.56 per cent to $30.75. Photo / Supplied

Leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare rebounded more than 5 per cent on the New Zealand sharemarket after a competitor, Dutch multi-national Philips, reported it was recalling up to four million sleep apnea machines and ventilators because of health risks.

Fisher and Paykel surged $1.62 or 5.56 per cent to $30.75 on trade worth $61.21 million, and drove the S&P/NZX 50 Index to a big gain of 134.21 points or 1.07 per cent to 12,696.39 – its highest close for five weeks.

There were 76 gainers and 60 decliners over the whole market, with 172.22m shares worth $649.29m changing hands.

The trading was boosted in the last half hour with the crossing of 86.02m units worth $234.92m in the Smartshares NZG exchange traded fund. There was also heavy trading in the heavyweights Fisher and Paykel, Spark, Fletcher Building, Meridian Energy and Contact.

Fisher and Paykel, and its Australian medical devices counterpart ResMed, made the most of Philips' difficulties. The Dutch company said it was recalling three to four million breathing devices and ventilators because of a foam part that might degrade and become toxic, or carry cancer risks.

Philips fell 4.16 per cent to €44.45 ($75.34) overnight, and ResMed Inc was up 7.2 per cent to A$30.42 ($32.78) on the ASX market at 5.4pm (NZ time). At the same time, the S&P/ASX 200 Index, at new peaks, had risen 0.97 per cent to 7382.9 points.

Dan Stratful, investment adviser with Forsyth Barr, said this is an opportunity for Fisher and Paykel to score some extra sales in the months ahead.

"After dipping below $30, there's finally some good news for Fisher and Paykel and we'll see how they can take advantage of a competitor's hiccup," he said.

Stratful said overall the local market was buoyant. It had a double sell-off in March and then in May and is now recovering. "All the talk this year has been about rising inflation and interest rates, but the present pause in interest rate expectation could certainly help our market.

"Technology stocks are having a bounce back, and we are seeing a rotation out of banks and cyclical stocks into growth shares – which was the opposite a few months ago," he said.

On Wall Street, the technology-driven Nasdaq Composite reached a new all-time high, rising 104 points or 0.74 per cent to 14,174.14 (previous 14,138.78 on April 26).

At home, global marketer a2 Milk is also in recovery mode, rising another 27c or 4.29 per cent to $6.56. Synlait was up 11c or 3.15 per cent to $3.60.

The retirement village stocks came alive. Ryman Healthcare was up 14c to $13.19, Summerset Group Holdings rose 16c to $13.15, Arvida gained 4c or 2.16 per cent to $1.89, and Oceania Healthcare increased 3c or 2.01 per cent to $1.52.

Freightways rose 22c or 1.8 per cent to $12.44; Mainfreight collected 66c to $74.95; Auckland International Airport increased 10c to $7.53; Infratil picked up 11c to $7.71; Vista Group gained 4c or 1.7 per cent to $2.39; Gentrack was up 5c or 2.38 per cent to $2.15; and EROAD rose 11c or 1.89 per cent to $5.94.

Enprise, an investment vehicle for high-growth tech companies, surged 25c or 11.11 per cent to $2.50. NZ King Salmon Investments rose 5c or 3.31 per cent to $1.56; Evolve Education gained 3c or 3.45 per cent to 90c; and The City of London Investment Trust was up 20c or 3.23per cent to $8.

Chorus fell 14c or 2.12 per cent to $6.46; Port of Tauranga shed 16c or 2.15 per cent to $7.29; Napier Port was down 6c to $3.48; SkyCity Entertainment declined 5c to $3.54; Heartland Group Holdings retreated 4c or 1.91 per cent to $2.05; and Sanford decreased 10c or 1.98 per cent to $4.95.

Scales Corporation told the market it is no longer negotiating to buy Villa Maria Winery, and its share price fell 10c or 2.06 per cent to $4.75. Scales said due diligence costs will be recognised in the June 30 half-year result.

Investore Property has sold one of its buildings tenanted by The Warehouse in Dunedin for $10.2m, an 8.5 per cent premium to the book value. The Warehouse did not want to renew its lease after July 31, and Investore's share price slipped 1c to $2.09.