“This went against the narrative that inflation is remaining sticky and persistent. The economy is not in great shape and if inflation gets near the target, then rate cuts are a lay-down misere,” Smith said.
The Reserve Bank said in its monetary policy review that the New Zealand economy continued to evolve as anticipated, and a restrictive monetary policy stance remained necessary to further reduce capacity pressures and inflation.
The bank believed consumer price inflation can be returned to the 1-3 per cent target range this year.
Heavyweight Fisher & Paykel Healthcare led the market upwards by increasing 68c or 2.65 per cent to $26.30 after investment manager UBS upgraded the stock’s target price to $29.10, from $28.50.
Smith said the UBS report commented Fisher & Paykel had its strongest (obstructive sleep apnea) mask offering in a decade and upgraded its hospital revenue growth to 70 per cent over the next five years.
“Investors are positive over the launch of its fourth mask (Nova Micro) in two years and they are fetching premium prices compared to competitors’ products. It all rolls into a new earnings growth story.”
Ebos Group was up 66c or 1.93 per cent to $34.80; Mainfreight collected $1 to $68.50; Manawa Energy gained 7c to $4.60; Sanford rose 13c or 3.32 per cent to $4.05; Briscoe added 8c or 1.77 per cent to $4.60; and Vector increased 6c to $3.81.
Winton Land increased 4c or 1.81 per cent to $2.25; Steel & Tube added 3c or 2.88 per cent to $1.07; Solution Dynamics improved 4c or 2.86 per cent to $1.44; and NZX was up 2c or 1.82 per cent to $1.12.
Among the property stocks, Investore was up 2c or 1.77 per cent to $1.15, and Precinct gained 2c or 1.71 per cent to $1.19.
Chorus was up 14c or 1.87 per cent to $7.63 after reporting slower connection activity in its third quarter update. The decline in copper connections slowed to 18,000 compared with 21,000 in the previous quarter. Just 55,000 copper connections remain in areas where Chorus has fibre available.
Fibre connections - now with a 71 per cent uptake - grew 12,000 in the three months ending March, slightly higher than 11,000 fibre connections in the second quarter. This offset the 8000 lines reduction of copper broadband connections.
Comvita declined a further 4c or 1.78 per cent to $2.21; a2 Milk was down 13c or 2.03 per cent to $6.26; Freightways shed 28c or 3.11 per cent to $8.72; Oceania Healthcare declined 2c or 3.03 per cent to 64c; and Tourism Holdings fell 10c or 3.32 per cent to $2.91.
Serko declined 8c or 2.18 per cent to $3.59; Vista Group was down 7c or 3.54 per cent to $1.91; Millennium & Copthorne Hotels decreased 6c or 3.13 per cent to $1.96; Rakon eased 4c or 3.39 per cent to $1.14; and Enprise decreased 3c or 7.41 per cent to 37.5c.
New listing Being AI continued its meteoric rise, gaining 0.006c or 6 per cent to 10.6c on increased activity after starting at 1.7c a week ago. Another technology stock, Blackpearl Group, was up 3c or 4.48 per cent to 70c.
Chatham Rock Phosphate rose 2.7c or 22.88 per cent to 14.5c after telling the market it has been invited to make an application for the Chatham Rise phosphate project to be considered as a listed project in the Fast Track Consenting Bill. It will take up the offer.
TradeWindow gained 1.2c or 7.06 per cent to 18.2c after reporting a 26 per cent increase in revenue to $6.2m for the year ending March. The software firm has launched its share purchase plan to raise up to $200,000, adding to its earlier placement worth $2m.
