"On the back of relatively low volumes this week it's recovered, in my view, closer to fair value, having been hammered after a long period of bad news," said James Bascand, equity analyst at Forsyth Barr. Fisher & Paykel led the index, gaining 3.3 per cent to $10.55.
Investore Property rose 1.8 per cent to $1.67 and Spark New Zealand advanced 1.5 per cent to $3.84. Both had high volumes of trading, with 3.46 million shares traded in Investore and 2.34 million in Spark.
Summerset advanced 1.3 per cent to $4.68, after Deutsche Bank raised its target price for the stock to $5.30 from $4.89 on Thursday, and Ryman Healthcare gained 1.1 per cent to $9.55 after Deutsche Bank also lifted its target price to $9.05 from $8.80.
Restaurant Brands fell 0.7 per cent to $5.41. The fast food brands company's board yesterday reiterated its forecast net profit after tax for the current financial year at $28 to $30 million. The firm's Australian business was making A$100 million in revenue and A$15 million in profit when acquired, but chief executive Russel Creedy said this current year's results will be impacted by the acquisition although it is already earnings accretive.
The dual-listed banks weakened yesterday, having gained this week. Westpac Banking Corp dropped 1.8 per cent to $32.35 and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group fell 1.4 per cent to $26.83.
Comvita was the worst performer, down 4 per cent to $10.60, and Xero fell 1.7 per cent to $19.14.