NZ sharemarket falls as investors show caution - Market close

Used car retailer 2 Cheap Cars increased 8c or 10 per cent to 88c after reporting an increase in full-year revenue and profit. Photo / Brett Phibbs

An uncertain New Zealand sharemarket followed a sharp fall on Wall Street, now losing faith in an early interest rate cut, with a small loss after a late recovery in the day.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index was steady in the morning, down at lunchtime and up in the afternoon to close at 11,783.39, declining 26.09 points or 0.22 per cent. The index ended the week ahead 0.7 per cent and is now up 0.1 per cent for the year.

There were 98 decliners and 37 gainers on the main board with 33.53 million shares worth $118.53 million changing hands.

Paul Robertshawe, chief investment officer with Octagon Asset Management, said there was plenty of cautiousness on the local market, especially concerning domestic cyclical stocks.

“Downgrades are still coming through, though there’s been some good results from companies steadying the ship such as My Food Bag and Eroad. Investors are trying to pick the bottom of the earnings cycle.

“Two big high-quality companies, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Mainfreight, are reporting next week and it will be interesting to see their outlooks. People look for growth from these companies,” Robertshawe said.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had its worst day this year, falling 605 points or 1.53 per cent to 39,065.26 after the May Purchasing Managers Index reached a 12-month high of 50.9, well above the estimate of 50. The data dimmed hopes of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates in September.

The S&P 500 declined 0.74 per cent to 5267.84 points, and Nasdaq Composite was down 0.39 per cent to 16,736.03. Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had fallen 1.01 per cent to 7732.8 points at 5.45pm NZ time.

Chipmaker and artificial intelligence darling Nvidia increased 9.32 per cent to US$1037.99, after announcing stronger-than-expected first quarter results and a 10 for one share split.

At home, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 16c to $28.33; Mainfreight declined 28c to $67.72; Fletcher Building fell 19c or 5.96 per cent to $3; Chorus eased 9.5c to $7.305; and Gentrack decreased 11c to $9.75.

Arvida Group declined 2c or 2 per cent to 98c; Manawa Energy shed 9c or 2.12 per cent to $4.16; Synlait was down 3c or 6.25 per cent to 45c; AFT Pharmaceuticals fell 23c or 7.32 per cent to $2.91; and Tourism Holdings decreased 4c or 1.99 per cent to $1.97.

In the property sector, Kiwi shed 1.5c or 1.8 per cent to 82c; Property for Industry was up 3c or 1.39 per cent to $2.19; Investore gained 3.6c or 3.61 per cent to $1.04; and Precinct added 2.5c or 2.17 per cent to $1.175.

A2 Milk gained a further 11c to $7.76; Enprise Group was up 1.5c or 3.23 per cent to 48c; Foley Wines improved 2c or 2.56 per cent to 80c; and Millennium & Copthorne Hotels NZ added 7c or 3.98 per cent to $1.83.

Oceania Healthcare was up 2c or 3.57 per cent to 58c after reporting a 7 per cent increase in revenue to $265.46m and 104 per cent rise in net profit to $31.47m for the year ending March. Operating earnings (ebitda) were $82.6m, up 3 per cent, and Oceania’s total sales volumes were up 16.7 per cent compared with the previous year, including a 22.7 per cent increase in new sales.

Oceania has appointed Suzanne Dvorak as the new chief executive. She has spent the past decade working in the Australian aged care and retirement living sector, including as managing director of Bupa Villages.

Used car retailer 2 Cheap Cars increased 8c or 10 per cent to 88c after reporting full-year revenue of $86.78m, up 5 per cent, and net profit of $6.24m, up 38.3 per cent. It is paying a final dividend of 4.16c a share on June 14. Vehicle sales were down 2 per cent to 8169 and 2 Cheap Cars’ market share is 4.5 per cent.

Blis Technologies gained 0.001c or 6.25 per cent to 1.7c on full-year revenue of $11.52m, up 14 per cent, and net profit of $646,000, a turnaround from a $1.35m loss in the previous year.

Fintech PaySauce, down 1c or 3.7 per cent to 26c, earlier reported a maiden full-year net profit of $1.2m and 33 per cent rise in revenue to $7.7m, helped by a 7 per cent increase in customers to 7368 and 11 per cent gain in average monthly revenue per user to $91.