Shares slip as Trump worries hit F&P

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare dropped 1.9 per cent to $8.70. Photo / File

NZ shares dropped, led by Chorus and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare on continued concerns about US President Trump, while Heartland Bank and Air New Zealand rose.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 48.7 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 7085.56. Within the index, 27 stocks dropped, 12 were unchanged and 11 rose.

Turnover was $70 million.

"We are very slow today, there's no catalyst at the moment to drive anything," said Peter McIntyre, investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners. "The market's grinding to a standstill today, until we get some decent corporate news flow. It's not surprising when you have Auckland Anniversary that volumes are so light."

Chorus led the index lower, dropping 3.7 per cent to $4.07. Along with Northpower, Ultrafast Fibre, and Enable, it has been awarded contracts to extend the nationwide ultrafast fibre network to 151 extra towns.

Separately, Chorus said it will extend UFB to a further 169 regions, adding more than 200,000 households and businesses to its network.

"I think there are doubts in the market that it's going to have a negative impact on their copper network, which is still quite a good earner for them. Some analysts still have a bit of doubt whether that's going to be good in the long run," McIntyre said.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare dropped 1.9 per cent to $8.70, extending its fall from last week after Trump announced his plan to impose a 20 per cent import tariff on Mexican goods. Fisher & Paykel manufactures goods for the American market in the Mexican town of Tijuana.

"Again it's concern about what's happening with regards to the state of play with imports into the US from Mexico. It's had a good run over the past three or four years, so some investors are taking some money off the top, admittedly on low volumes," McIntyre said.

Argosy Property shed 1.9 per cent to $1.025, Spark NZ dropped 1.7 per cent to $3.535, and Metlifecare declined 1.6 per cent to $5.51.

Heartland Bank was the best performer, up 1.3 per cent to $1.56, while Air New Zealand gained 1.2 per cent to $2.16 and Stride Property rose 1.1 per cent to $1.79.

NZX was unchanged at $1.11. The shares have been reiterated as "outperform" by brokerage First NZ Capital, which raised its earnings forecasts for 2017 and 2018 primarily to reflect the market operator's sale of the unprofitable Clear Grain Exchange.

Outside the benchmark index, Hellaby Holdings was unchanged at $3.58. ASX-listed auto firm Bapcor edged closer to its takeover of Hellaby. Bapcor has already declared its $3.60-per-share offer, which closes on February 7, unconditional.

G3 Group was unchanged at 62c.