A2 Milk falls, German court victory boosts F&P Healthcare

New Zealand shares fell, dragged lower by A2 Milk Co on negative news from an Australian rival, while Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gained after a positive result in court.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index dropped 27.88 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 6904.86. Within the index, 27 stocks fell, 17 rose and seven were unchanged. Turnover was $155 million.

A2 Milk Co led the index lower, down 11.6 per cent to $2.28. The shares had gained 19 per cent since the annual meeting in Sydney, but dropped yesterday after Australian rival formula producer Bellamy's said Chinese demand had dropped because of regulatory changeover.

Meridian Energy fell 1.9 per cent to $2.55, Sky Network Television dropped 1.9 per cent to $4.66 and Fletcher Building declined 1.8 per cent to $10.26.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was the best performer, up 4.3 per cent to $8.56. The company, which is battling rival ResMed over intellectual property for face and nasal masks, has succeeded in overturning the second of two preliminary injunctions against it in Germany, allowing it to resume sales of the affected products in that country.

"There are still concerns with the company doing a lot of manufacturing in Mexico, and what US president-elect Donald Trump might do, but it was nice to see the company have a win in the courts anyway," said Grant Williamson, director at Hamilton Hindin Greene.

Tegel Group Holdings rose 2.7 per cent to $1.53 and Port of Tauranga advanced 1.9 per cent to $3.82.

Property for Industry gained 2 per cent to $1.57. The commercial property investor expects its portfolio to lift 9 per cent in value this year amid high demand. The value of PFI's portfolio of 84 properties is estimated to have increased to $1.09 billion this month, from $1.01b at June 30 and from $987 million at the start of the year.

Outside the main index, IkeGPS gained 14.3 per cent to 40c. The company said it had extended its supply, branding and distribution deal for its Stanley Smart Measure Pro with Stanley Black & Decker, the world's largest tool supplier, to the end of calendar 2018.

Intueri Education Group rose 5.7 per cent to 5.6c. It will get an A$3.5 million payment from the Australian Department of Education and Training for 2015, but is still waiting to hear whether it will get a further A$6m for 2016 and whether it can join that country's new student loan payment scheme.

Cavalier dropped 1.2 per cent to 81c. Godfrey Hirst has said it will abandon its fight to overturn the regulatory approval for a wool scouring monopoly in New Zealand involving rival Cavalier, despite judging it a "major blow to the wool industry and competition generally in New Zealand".

Augusta Capital was unchanged at $1.04, while NPT was also unchanged at 67c.