Ryman Healthcare and Comvita slide to decade-plus lows - Market close

Ryman Healthcare was down a further 5c to a near 12-year low of $3.85. Photo / NZME

The New Zealand sharemarket drifted slightly lower on a quiet day, with leader Fisher & Paykel Healthcare again doing the hard graft.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index reached a morning low of 11,734.7 but raised itself to close at 11,782.89, down 17.89 points or 0.15 per cent.

There were 63 gainers and 74 decliners on the main board, with volumes of 33.59 million share transactions worth $146.69 million.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, up 25c to $29.15, made up more than a quarter of the day’s trading with $40.99m worth of its shares changing hands. Fisher & Paykel’s share price is now at a 28-month high.

The latest Global Dairy Trade auction saw the index increase 1.8 per cent, after a 1.1 per cent gain in the previous auction in mid-April.

Whole milk powder increased 2.4 per cent to an average US$3350 ($5589) per metric tonne, and skim milk powder was up 0.4 per cent to US$2551 a metric tonne. Cheddar cheese rose 8 per cent to US$4257 per metric tonne, and butter gained 2.1 per cent to US$6593 per metric tonne.

The ANZ World Commodity Price Index lifted 0.5 per cent in April. The meat and fibre index continued to improve with a 6.3 per cent increase in beef prices. Lamb improved slightly but is still 10 per cent weaker than a year ago, while wool prices dropped, wiping out the gains achieved in the past six months.

The forestry index plummeted in April, with log prices now at their lowest level since October 2016. China demand is extremely weak at present as construction activity remains subdued.

Aluminium prices shot up 11.5 per cent to a 15-month high after the US and EU put sanctions on aluminium, copper and nickel produced by Russia, which accounts for about 5 per cent of the global supply.

Mark Lister, investment director with Craigs Investment Partners, said the market is a little subdued with not a lot of economic and earnings releases around at the moment.

“Mind you, a day without a profit warning is a good day and investors would not be unhappy that it’s quiet with all the bad news they’ve had lately.

“Most of the weakness has been among stocks that are economically sensitive, though Spark (with its earnings downgrade) went against the trend, which wasn’t great news.”

He said the second half of the month will liven up with the local reporting season, a big United States inflation report, the New Zealand Reserve Bank meeting and the Budget.

Spark was down 10c or 2.27 per cent to a four-year low of $4.31 on trade worth $17.34m; Mainfreight declined 89c to $68.40; Turners Automotive shed 13c or 3.15 per cent to $4; Fletcher Building eased 7c or 1.93 per cent to $3.56; and Vulcan Steel fell 35c or 4.49 per cent to $7.45.

Chorus declined 14c or 1.93 per cent to $7.11; Mercury Energy was down 11c or 1.71 per cent to $6.31; Freightways eased 15c to $8.37; and Skellerup decreased 7c or 1.17 per cent to $4.02.

Ryman Healthcare was down a further 5c to a near 12-year low of $3.85; and Comvita slid 4c or 2.19 per cent to a near 14-year low of $1.79.

Lister said there was talk of a takeover bid for Comvita but “we haven’t seen any evidence. There’s nothing of substance for anyone to latch on to”.

He said Ryman was interesting for long-term investors: “It is still a good business with a solid set of assets and it just dropped the ball in terms of execution.”

Other decliners were Pacific Edge down 0.007c or 7 per cent to 9.3c; Metro Performance Glass falling 1c or 11.76 per cent to 7.5c and PaySauce shedding 3.5c or 12.96 per cent to 23.5c.

Auckland International Airport, up 4c to $7.85, has filled its $250m six-and-a-half bond offer carrying an interest rate of 5.45 per cent a year. The bonds will be issued on May 15.

SkyCity increased 4c or 2.37 per cent to $1.73; a2 Milk was up 7c to $6.77; Tourism Holdings rebounded 4c or 2.05 per cent to $1.98; Arvida Group added 2c or 2.04 per cent to $1; and Eroad gained 2c or 2.33 per cent to 88c.

Air New Zealand rose 3c or 5.77 per cent to 55c; Investore gained 3c or 2.75 per cent to $1.12; My Food Bag improved 0.004c or 3.45 per cent to 12c; NZ Rural Land added 4c or 4.4 per cent to 95c; and Green Cross Health was up 3c or 3.03 per cent to $1.02.