Healthcare giants drive positive day on NZ sharemarket
Craigs Investment Partners investment director Mark Lister said the market responded positively.
'The inflation rate came in a little hotter than the Reserve Bank had expected back in May, although they will have seen everything you and I have seen since May so they would have known it was or expected it to be a little up on their May forecasts,' Lister said.
'It was a better outcome than we were expecting, which means a higher chance of that Official Cash Rate (OCR) cut that we didn't get in July, coming in August.'
The kiwi and wholesale interest rates edged lower, but Lister said the share market continued to perform strongly as it approached its highest point since February.
On the main board, healthcare companies Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Ebos Group performed strongly.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare shares rose 1.45% to $37.07, after 164,162 shares changed hands to the value of $6,068,529.05.
While Ebos Group shares rose 0.88% to $40.15, after shares worth $6,656,789.81 were traded.
'We're all hopeful that Fisher & Paykel Healthcare will escape the worst of the potential tariffs.
'There was still a lot of manufacturing in Mexico, selling to North America, and they're very much a global business. Its supply chains are highly integrated, which means they're one that we're all watching very closely as we wait for more news on the tariff front.'
Infratil, meanwhile, saw its share price fall 8c to $11.47, after $5,100,425.57 worth of shares traded hands.
Mainfreight's share price fell, dropping 95c to $67.00 after 58,182 shares traded hands to the value of $3,899,994.68.
The world
In Hong Kong equities mostly rose Monday on optimism countries will reach US trade deals before an August 1 deadline, while the yen gained after Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he would stay in office despite another election defeat.
Hong Kong topped 25,000 points for the first time in three years as tech giants advanced following strong earnings from Taiwanese chip giant TSMC and news US titan Nvidia would be allowed to export key semiconductors to China.
While only three countries have signed agreements to avoid the worst of Donald Trump's tariffs, analysts said investors were hopeful that others – including Japan and South Korea – will follow suit.
The upbeat mood has been helped by a series of largely positive US economic data releases that suggested the world's top economy remained in rude health, helping to push Wall Street to multiple record highs.
In early trade, Hong Kong climbed to as high as 25,010.90 – its highest level since February 2022 – thanks to a strong performance in ecommerce leaders Alibaba and JD.com and food delivery provider Meituan.
– Additional reporting AFP
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.
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