Ryman Healthcare was the dark horse of the local market with more than 39 million shares changing hands at a hefty discount, while the S&P/NZX 50 index joined a rally across Asia as US President Donald Trump dialled down the rhetoric over Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s position and the tariffs slapped on China.
The big blue-chip companies such as Infratil, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Auckland International Airport and Spark New Zealand buoyed the local benchmark, with more companies on the red side of the ledger than the green.
Meanwhile, Tesla rallied in after-hours trading in the US after chief executive Elon Musk said he plans to spend less time trying to slash federal government spending and more on the electric carmaker after it reported a 71% slide in first-quarter earnings.
And that recovery in general investor sentiment took the wind out of gold prices – which have been at records – and prompted a hasty retreat for would-be miners Santana Minerals and New Talisman Gold Mines.
Yeah, but nah
“Trump said he has no plans to fire Jerome Powell from the Federal Reserve and pointed to lower tariffs for China – but not to zero,” said Peter McIntyre, an investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners. “That’s given the market some relief and, correspondingly, we’ve had a strong day.”
Stock markets across Asia rallied after Trump toned down his complaints about Powell’s approach to lowering interest rates, having spooked investors earlier this week when he mused publicly about a hasty exit for Fed chair.
The NZX50 climbed 119.78 points, or 1%, to 11,956.47, with 18 gainers, 28 decliners and four companies unchanged. Turnover across the broader market was $215 million.
Of that, Ryman accounted for $89.7 million with 39 million shares, or roughly 3.8% of the company, changing hands at $2.20 a share in two trades. The stock posted the biggest decline on the NZX50, falling 4.5% to $2.33 on a volume of 40.6 million. Separately, Cooper Investors lodged a notice saying it had reduced its stake to 9.5%, having sold down its holding over the past month.
Ryman raised $1 billion earlier this year in a discounted offering, but struggled to rally up demand in the retail component which left the underwriters holding 53 million shares.
“This is just the aftermath of that and the capital raising,” McIntyre said. “There’s still liquidity running through that stock.”
Tech time
Gentrack led the local market higher, climbing 6.5% to $10.86 and joining a global tech rally across the Magnificent 7 stocks on Wall Street. Tesla which climbed more than 3% in after hours trading on top of the 4.6% rally before reporting a steep decline in sales. Musk’s returning focus on the company and the prospect of more affordable models soothed nervous investors.
Meanwhile, New Zealand's benchmark index was buoyed by gains among its largest companies. Infratil rose 3.5% to $10.49, F&P Healthcare gained 2.8% to $33.40, Auckland Airport advanced 2.7% to $8.07 and Spark rose 2.7% to $2.065.
TradeWindow rose 1.1%, or 0.2 of a cent, to 18 cents after lifting annual recurring revenue 38% in the March year and breaking even on an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation basis in March.
Busy busy
Goodman Property Trust fell 0.3% to $1.86 on a bigger-than-usual volume of 6.1 million units.
Genesis Energy declined 2% to $2.16. After trading closed, the power company released its quarterly performance report, saying it’s still in talks with other firms to maintain a third Rankine unit at the Huntly peaker plant, with discussions including a jointly funded coal reserve to preserve energy security.
Would-be miners Santana and New Talisman gave up yesterday’s gains as the price of gold sank on Trump’s shift in tone. Santana fell 7.1% to 59 cents and New Talisman declined 5.7%, or 0.5 of a cent, to 8.3 cents.
The kiwi dollar traded at 59.79 US cents at 5pm in Auckland form 59.78 cents at 7am, down from 60.20 cents yesterday.
Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from Curious News.
