Shares mixed as market outperforms Oz

Sky TV, led by CEO John Fellet, closed up 3 per cent at $4.74.

NZ shares were mixed as Orion Health Group plunged following its first-half results, while Sky Network Television and Contact Energy gained.

The S&P/NZX50 Index rose 3.34 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 6,902.95. Within the index, 25 stocks fell, 17 rose and nine were unchanged. Turnover was $107.3 million.

Orion Health dropped 18 per cent to $2.05. The health software developer narrowed its first-half loss to $18m after boosting sales of perpetual licences in North America and cutting operating costs, and said it would make a profit in 2018. Sales rose to $104.2m from $101.7m.

"There's not a lot of transparency from the company about why they're missing expectations, and you're now starting to see concern creep in about the amount of cash they're burning through, and whether they've got enough left to get them through to when they start turning a profit," said Mark Lister, head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners.

The market has stabilised somewhat, Lister said, outperforming Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index which closed down 0.8 per cent at 5464.4.

Metro Performance Glass was one of those companies, up 1.6 per cent to $1.95 while Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gained 0.7 per cent to $8.33.

Sky Network Television was the best performer, up 3 per cent to $4.74, while Contact Energy gained 2.6 per cent to $4.72. Vital Healthcare Property Trust dropped 2.4 per cent to $2 and Goodman Property Trust shed 2.4 per cent to $1.23.

Outside the benchmark index, Smartpay Holdings gained 9.4 per cent to 17.5c. The listed payment terminal supplier has warned it is experiencing a decline in existing and anticipated growth in the Australian taxi market due to the continual disruption of the industry.

OceanaGold Corp rose 3.3 per cent to $4.07. The owner of NZ's biggest gold mine at Macraes is to delist from the NZX at the end of the year to reduce compliance costs, leaving its shares to trade on the ASX and the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Green Cross Health gained 1.2 per cent to $2.58. The medical services provider saw its first-half operating profit stall despite a large one-off gain which boosted its statutory net profit 24 per cent.