Market close: F&P Healthcare surges, Harmoney slips further

Harmoney chief executive David Stevens rings the bell at the company's listing on New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges last week. Photo / Supplied

Some more vaccine news and a strong rebound by leading stock Fisher and Paykel Healthcare drove the New Zealand sharemarket forward on another positive day.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index finished 51.63 points or 0.41 per cent ahead at 12,553.38. There were 86 gainers and 47 decliners and trading was strong with 58.42 million shares worth $227.30 million changing hands.

Across the Tasman the leading S&P/ASX 200 Index was into its third straight week of gains, rising 1.42 per cent to 6654.90 points at 5.45pm.

The Oxford University-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine shows an efficacy rate of between 62 per cent and 90 per cent depending on the dosage, and AstraZeneca will be making three billion doses next year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 300 points or 1.12 per cent to 29,591.27.

Jeremy Sullivan, investment adviser with Hamilton Hindin Greene, said the market was buoyed by another vaccine development, which is positive for tourism.

"Air New Zealand had a strong day and Fisher and Paykel was doing some heavy hitting – which is interesting since the New Zealand currency is going up. With Covid cases going up, people are still thinking Fisher and Paykel can make hay while the sun shines."

The NZ dollar climbed to 69.9c against the American during the day, and the market is also closely watching whether the Reserve Bank will introduce further loan-to-value ratio restrictions to cool the hot housing market.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson has signalled the Government will change its remit with the Reserve Bank to require it to take into account the impact of monetary policy on house prices. The property stocks were trimmed.

The day before reporting its latest financial result, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare surged $1.15 or 3.5 per cent to $34.05 on trade worth $32.6m. It was joined by fellow Spark which gained 11.5c or 2.55 per cent to $4.63 on trade worth $16m.

Air New Zealand, wanting to do more flying when the border re-opens, climbed 9.5c or 5.43 per cent to $1.845. Tourism Holdings was up 3c to $2.64, and wine exporter Delegat Group surged 78c or 5.3 per cent to $15.50.

Fletcher Building again had a good day, rising 11c or 1.98 per cent to $5.67; Sanford was up 9c to $5.10; and Turners Automotive Group gained 11c or 4.07 per cent to $2.81.

Retirement village operator Arvida reported an 8 per cent increase in revenue to $86.19m and a 7 per cent drop in net profit to $41.84m for the six months ending September. It is paying an interim dividend of 2.4c a share and its price fell 7c or 3.89 per cent to $1.73. Arvida said it was on track to deliver 247 new units for the year, and it will be added to the MSCI Global Micro Cap index on December 1.

Fellow retirement stocks Summerset Group Holdings and Ryman Healthcare were also down – Summerset declining 10c to $10.70 and Ryman losing another 36c or 2.45 per cent to $14.33, having fallen $1.65 in four trading days.

In the property sector, Argosy was down 3.5to $1.44, Precinct Properties decreased 4c or 2.26 per cent to $1.73, Kiwi Property fell 4.5c or 3.5 per cent to $1.24 and Goodman slipped 2c to $2.38.

Personal lender Harmoney fell below its listing price after losing 13c or 3.58 per cent to $3.50, and Synlait Milk was down 11c or 1.93 per cent to $5.58.

Insurance company Tower rose 2.5c or 4.24 per cent to 61.5c after announcing it has reached a $42.1m agreement with the Earthquake Commission for an outstanding receivable resulting from the Christchurch earthquakes.

Vital Healthcare Property Trust has bought Tauranga's 51-bed Grace Hospital for $95m – the city's only private in-patient hospital built in 2007 with 11 operating theatres. Vital's share price fell 0.5c to $2.945.