Trade Me leads retreat as investors book profits on good gains

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 7.41 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 7000.1. Photo / Supplied

New Zealand shares fell, led by Trade Me Group, as some investors were happy to book profits on a market that has gained 11 per cent this year. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare dropped on concern a strong kiwi dollar will hurt exporters.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 7.41 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 7000.1. Within the index 24 stocks fell, 19 rose and eight were unchanged. Turnover was $183 million.

Trade Me, the auction website, fell 3.8 per cent to $4.81 and Mainfreight, the transport group, declined 2.3 per cent to $16.31. Tegel Group Holdings, the country's largest poultry producer, fell 1.8 per cent to $1.63.

F&P Healthcare, which gets more than 50 per cent of its sales in US dollars, declined 1.5 per cent to $9.98. The kiwi is heading for a 1.2 per cent weekly gain against the greenback, reducing exporters' revenue when it is converted back into NZ dollars.

Fletcher Building, which counts Australia as its second-largest market, fell 1.4 per cent to $8.58, even after the Commerce Commission approved its $315 million acquisition of rival Higgins Group Holdings.

"Investors have to be mindful of the fact that some businesses have US and Australian dollar exposure," said James Smalley, a director at Hamilton Hindin Greene. "This high currency is going to affect a number of these exporters' earnings."

Westpac declined 2.8 per cent to $29.05 and ANZ Bank fell 1.2 per cent to $23.98. Standard & Poor's on Thursday put Australia's major lenders on a "negative" outlook, following a similar downgrade to Australia's sovereign rating outlook.

Ebos Group, which counts Australia as its biggest market, fell 0.9 per cent to $16.01.

Spark was the biggest gainer, rising 3 per cent to $3.76. Sky TV rose 2.7 per cent to $4.88 and Heartland Bank gained 1.6 per cent to $1.25.

Smalley said while some investors may have sold shares yesterday to take advantage of recent gains, the market remained attractive to those facing paltry returns from bank deposits.

Delegat Group rose 2.5 per cent to $6.15 after revising its forecast net operating profit for the 2016 financial year up $1 million to $37 million on record case sales.

Blis Technologies stock fell 8.5 per cent to 4.3c after telling the NZX it wasn't in possession of any material information that could explain a 42 per cent surge in its stock price since June 30.