“It’s been a relatively quiet post result season day, without a lot of fundamental news,” Goodson said.
Goodson said Pacific Edge was the “star of the day”, with the company’s share price rallying 12.77% to $0.15 after 2.7 million shares changed hands on turnover worth $425,200.
“Centres for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has recommended a much stronger than expected price for their Triage Plus test, at over US$1300 per test rather than the draft of just over US$1000.”
“The only flaw is that they aren’t yet on the reimbursement list. Although given that they are now part of the recommended standard of care by the American Neurological Association, it’s certainly our expectation that the consultant who acts for Medicare will put them back on.”
Briscoe Group released its half-year result, reporting flat revenue compared to the same period last year while profit fell 11.8% to $29.3m. Its share price fell 5c or 0.88% to $5.64.
Goodson said it was encouraging to see its second quarter was “a lot less bad” than its first, but said its outlook commentary for the full year was a bit softer than the market expected.
Infratil also had a positive day, with its share price lifting 2.13% or 26c to $12.45, after 568,000 shares changed hands on turnover worth $7.07m.
Goodson believed the positive result for Oracle on the US markets overnight could have played a part, after Oracle provided the market with aggressive guidance around cloud infrastructure growth.
Ebos Group shed more from its share price following its earnings announcement in late August, dropping 2.47% or 74c to $29.23 on turnover worth $14.39m.
Mainfreight also had its share price drop, falling 5.86% or $3.75 to $60.25.
Meanwhile, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose late in the day, rising 0.34% to $38.43 on turnover worth $26.7m.
Wall Street stock indices powered to fresh records on Tuesday (local time), shrugging off disappointing jobs data amid expectations that they will lead to lower US Federal Reserve interest rates.
All three major indices finished at all-time highs, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.4% at 45,711.34.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.3% to 6512.61, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.4% to 21,879.49.
The records came as the US Labour Department estimated that 911,000 fewer jobs were created in the United States than previously reported in a revision to data for the 12 months ending in March.
The figures suggest the job market has been slowing for longer than previously thought, further bolstering the odds of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts following poor monthly reports for July and August.
– Additional reporting AFP
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.
