"There is a thought that Asian investment money has swung away from the Chinese market and is being reallocated to Australia and New Zealand. No-one is selling here and it does feel more money is chasing our stocks," Main said.
"Businesses might be in a sweet spot at the moment, but it will be interesting to see what happens when the cost pressures start impacting their margins."
Mainfreight surged $3.45 or 4.15 per cent to $86.50 without announcing anything. Main said Mainfreight was a well-run global company that operates in an environment where it can pass on costs to its suppliers.
Quiet performer Skellerup Holdings, the world's second largest food-grade dairy rubberware manufacturer, climbed 25c or 4.76 per cent to $5.50 after reporting record net profit of $40.17m, up 38 per cent, for the 2021 financial year ending June.
Skellerup also had record operating cash of $58.8m, up 22 per cent, and record operating earnings (ebit) in its Agri division of $30.5m and Industrial division of $32.7m. Skellerup's revenue was $279.51, up 11 per cent, total ebit increased 33 per cent to $56.4m, and it is paying a final dividend of 10.5c a share on October 15.
Chorus rose 79c or 12.4 per cent to $7.16 after the Commerce Commission proposed an initial regulated asset base of $5.427 billion for Chorus' fibre business from January 2022 – in line with Chorus' suggestion of $5.5b. The commission has also proposed an annual revenue range of $689m-$786m for the 2022-24 regulatory period.
Ebos Group was up 40c to $32.40 after earlier reporting another strong result. Ebos is building a $80m, state-of-the-art pet food manufacturing plant in New South Wales, and has bought Pioneer Medical, a New Zealand importer of spine and major joint implants for orthopaedic and neurosurgery.
Fletcher Building regained 21c or 2.75 per cent to $7.84, when investors digested its impressive result a day after its share price fell.
Market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was up 41c to $33.65; a2 Milk gained 12c to $6.94; Freightways picked up 27c or 2.12 per cent to $12.99; Infratil gained 29c or 4.03 per cent to $7.49; Restaurant Brands climbed 60c or 3.97 per cent to $15.70; and Pushpay Holdings was up 7c or 4.43 per cent to $1.65.
The energy stocks were also on the move. Contact was up 15c or 1.86 per cent to $8.22; Meridian rose 15c or 3.03 per cent to $5.095; Mercury gained 16c or 2.41 per cent to $6.80; Genesis increased 7.5c or 2.26 per cent to $3.39; and Trustpower was up 16c or 1.98 per cent to $8.23.
Z Energy collected 9c or 3.09 per cent to $3; Synlait Milk increased 8c or 2.29 per cent to $3.58; Sanford was up 9c or 1.91 per cent to $4.79; Move Logistics rose 6c or 3.97 per cent to $1.57; and Serko gained 10c to $7.05.
It wasn't pretty reading but it was expected. Auckland International Airport's lowest number of overseas arrivals and departures since 1972, because of the Covid pandemic, resulted in it first underlying loss of $41.8m, from a profit of $188.5m in the previous financial year. Total number of passengers decreased to 6.4m, down 58.5 per cent on the previous year. Its share price closed 3c down at $7.07.
The country's largest kiwifruit grower Seeka was up 10c or 1.96 per cent to $5.20 on the back of a strong six-month result. Seeka's revenue reached a record $224.5m, up 25.6 per cent, and net profit increased 11.9 per cent to $20.6m. Operating earnings (ebitda) rose 54 per cent to $46.9m, and it is paying an interim dividend of 13c a share on October 13.
Retailer Briscoe Group fell 13c or 2.12 per cent to $6; and SkyCity Entertainment was down 4c to $3.07.
The New Zealand Refining Company, about to be changed from a refinery to a fuel import terminal, had a 3 per cent fall in revenue to $115.43m for the six months ending June, with throughput down from 15.4m to 13m barrels. Its loss shortened to $4.91m from $186.3m, and its share price slipped 1c to 83c.
