New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index notched up its first monthly gain of the year, climbing 4.3% in May following a relatively mixed shoulder earnings season, where investors fretted over the futures for the likes of Infratil and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare.
Eroad was the darling bud of May, surging 66% in the month as it recovered from an 11-month low in April.
Meanwhile, trading on the last day of the month was busy as the MSCI index reweightings drove portfolio tweaks, even though there weren’t any local additions or removals, with blue-chips Meridian Energy, Contact Energy, Auckland International Airport and Spark New Zealand coming in for some big volumes.
And while Warehouse Group bounced back to lead the market higher on the day, Ryman Healthcare remains in the doldrums as it plumbs new depths.
Monthly rejig
The NZX50 gained 137.58 points, or 1.1%, to 12,418.89, with 36 stocks gaining, 11 falling and three unchanged.
That took the monthly gain to 4.3%, the biggest since July last year and the first of 2025. Eroad, which is outside the top 50, posted the biggest gain in May as it surged 66%, capping it off with a 4.9% increase to $1.49.
Turnover was $426.4 million across the main board, with the settlement period extended to allow for heavier volumes from the MSCI equity index reweightings.
Meridian was the most heavily trading stock on the bourse, as it fell 1.6% to $5.49 on a volume of 11 million shares, while Contact rose 0.3% to $9.16 with 7.7 million shares changing hands. Auckland Airport fell 2% to $7.55 on a volume of 6.8 million and Spark gained 0.5% to $2.23 on a volume of 6.9 million.
New Zealand’s market outperformed most of Asia, with investors rattled by the latest tariff drama as a US trade court ruled President Donald Trump’s global trade reordering to be unlawful, before the Court of Appeal stayed the decision until it heard the White House’s challenge.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.1% in late trading, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index declined 0.2% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 1.2%. Futures for the S&P 500 were pointing to a 0.3% decline when Wall Street opens.
“It’s just going to remain choppy for the foreseeable future,” said Peter McIntyre, an investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners. “As soon as Trump says anything, markets are going to jump around, and it comes down to interest rates and how well companies are performing.”
The kiwi dollar traded at 59.70 US cents at 5pm in Auckland from 59.84 cents at 7am, and up from 59.42 cents yesterday.
Heavyweight duty
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was the biggest tailwind for the NZX50 as it gained 5.4% to $36.50, unwinding some of the sharp selloff it got in the wake of its result earlier this week, while Mainfreight gained 4.9% to $70.30, taking its monthly gain to 27%.
Matt Goodson, managing director at Salt Funds Management, said earnings season had been mixed with strong results from insurer Tower and Turners Automotive Group, and an okay result from F&P Healthcare, whereas the already-complicated Infratil result was a little softer on the potential demand for the CDC data centre business.
Turners gained 5.2% to $6.50, Tower increased 1% to $1.52 and Infratil dipped 0.1% to $10.545.
Warehouse led the NZX50 higher as it surged 10% to 95 cents, its highest closing price since February, while Vista Group International gained 7% to $3.69.
Ryman Healthcare posted the steepest fall on the day, down 5.4% at $2.10 as it hit a new 14-year low.
Craigs’ McIntyre said the downward adjustment of Ryman’s net tangible asset value had pushed the price even lower since it reported this week, and that management need to have got all the bad news out of the way.
“Their next report needs to be reasonably good if they want to revive confidence among investors.”
And Pacific Edge halted trading of its shares – last at 8.2 cents – as it kicked off a $20 million capital raising through a placement to institutions and a share purchase plan at a premium of 10 cents per share to help fund its pursuit of Medicare coverage in the US.
Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from Curious News.
