Healthcare giants drive positive day on NZ sharemarket

On the main board, the S&P/NZX 50 Index closed up 0.63% or 81.10 points, rising to 12,961.51, with 27.6 million shares changing hands to the value of $85.1m.

The S&P/NZX 20 index closed at 7,605.63, up 0.62%, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 12,681.57, rising 0.77%.

There were 79 gainers on the main board and 59 decliners.

CPI up

The consumers price index (CPI) increased 2.7% in the 12 months to the June 2025 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ on Monday.

It means the official inflation rate is at its highest point in the last year, but the rise in the June quarter was lower than expected at 0.5%.

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.”

NZ dollar slips

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.

Healthcare has a good day

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 for a value of $6m.

While Ebos Group shares rose 0.88% to $40.15, after shares worth $6.6m 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 ones that we’re all watching very closely as we wait for more news on the tariff front.”

Mainfreight, Infratil down

Infratil, meanwhile, saw its share price fall 8c to $11.47, after $5.1m worth of shares traded hands.

Elsewhere on the market, Mainfreight’s share price fell, dropping 95c to $67.00 after 58,182 shares traded hands to the value of $3.8m.

World

In Hong Kong, equities mostly rose on Monday on optimism that countries will reach US trade deals before an Aug 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 that 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 bolstered by a series of largely positive US economic data releases, which suggested the world’s top economy remained in robust 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 e-commerce leaders Alibaba and JD.com and food delivery provider Meituan.

– Additional reporting AFP