Fisher and Paykel Healthcare leads rise in sharemarket - market close

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare increased 59c or 2.15 per cent to $27.99 on trade worth $34.35 million.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare hit a 27-month high as it led the New Zealand sharemarket to a 1 per cent gain on the back of a strong rally on Wall Street.

In a familiar pattern, the S&P/NZX 50 Index bounced at lunchtime and traded strongly in the afternoon to close at 11,916.24, up 111.15 points or 0.94 per cent.

There were 84 gainers and 56 decliners on the main board, with 31.62 million shares worth $123.2 million changing hands.

Market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare increased 59c or 2.15 per cent to $27.99 on trade worth $34.35m, spurred on by a strong quarterly result from competitor ResMed, established in Australia but now based in San Diego. Fisher and Paykel sat at $28 on January 24, 2022.

ResMed was up 3.44 per cent to A$32.58, following Friday’s rise of 9.6 per cent, on the Australian exchange with the S&P/ASX 200 Index having gained 0.677 per cent to 7634.6 points at 6pm NZ time.

The medical device company reported third quarter (to the end of March) revenue of US$1.197 billion (NZ$2b), up 7 per cent, and net profit of US$300.5m ($504m), a gain of 29 per cent. Gross margins increased 260 basis points to 57.9 per cent.

Jeremy Sullivan, investment adviser with Hamilton Hindin Greene, said Fisher and Paykel was also benefiting from a weaker NZ dollar (trading at US59.80c) since it exports 95 per cent of its product.

Sullivan said the local market had a buoyant day after the strong rallies offshore.

“The earnings season in the United States has been quite robust, with Alphabet [owner of Google] rising 10 per cent and adding US$300 billion in market capitalisation in just one day – that’s twice the size of the New Zealand market.”

Alphabet increased 9.97 per cent to US$173.69 – its biggest single-day rise since 2015 – after declaring its first dividend with regular quarterly payments to follow.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 2.03 per cent to 15,927.9 points at the weekend (NZ time); the S&P 500 gained 1.02 per cent to 5099.96; and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 38,239.66.

Sullivan said investors will this week be carefully analysing the Reserve Bank’s half-yearly financial stability report and the latest business confidence survey and labour market data.

ANZ Research said the first-quarter labour market is unlikely to materially change the monetary policy outlook in New Zealand. The data is likely to show a further increase in spare capacity and a moderation in wage growth, with unemployment rising from 4 per cent to 4.2 per cent.

ASB Bank predicted the unemployment rate will rise to 4.3 per cent, with an additional 15,000 people making themselves available to work.

“We continue to expect that much of the lift in unemployment over the next couple of years, to around 5.5 per cent, is going to be driven by strong population growth,” ASB said.

Ebos Group and Infratil added their weight to the market gain, increasing 76c or 2.22 per cent to $35.06 and 33c or 3.06 per cent to $11.11 (a new high) respectively. Spark was up 67c to $4.71.

Auckland International Airport, up 10c to $7.85, is considering an offer of fixed-rate bonds maturing in November 2030.

The property sector had a strong day. Goodman Property Trust gained 4c or 1.79 per cent to $2.28; Kiwi Property Group increased 2.5c or 3.09 per cent to 83.5c; Investore was up 2c or 1.8 per cent to $1.13; Precinct Properties added 2c or 1.72 per cent to $1.18; Property for Industry picked up 4c or 1.82 per cent to $2.24; and Vital Healthcare Trust improved 3c to $2.16.

In the energy sector, Contact gained 14c to $8.65, and Mercury was down 13c or 2.03 per cent to $6.27.

Chorus was up 10c to $7.30; Ryman Healthcare rebounded 11c or 2.65 per cent to $4.26; Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund gained 8c or 2.22 per cent to $3.69; Allied Farmers increased 3c or 4.17 per cent to 75c; Enprise rose 2.5c or 5.95 per cent to 44.5c; and Chatham Rock Phosphate improved 0.008c or 4.97 per cent to 16.9c.

Port of Tauranga gave back 15c or 2.95 per cent to $4.94 after its 4.1 per cent rise on Friday.

Mainfreight declined $1.19 or 1.71 per cent to $68.50; Delegat Group was down 15c or 2.16 per cent to $6.80; NZME decreased 2c or 2.33 per cent to 84c; and Restaurant Brands fell 13c or 3.68 per cent to $3.40.

Serko decreased 10c or 3.06 per cent to $3.17; Rakon declined 5c or 4.55 per cent to $1.05; and NZ Rural Land eased 2c or 2.22 per cent to 87c.