Kiwi Property Group rose 4.1% to 88 cents, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare advanced 2.8% to $32.96 and Ebos Group gained 1.5% to $36.26.
Local employment data was slightly better than expected, with the unemployment rate rising to 4.6%, prompting some traders to pare back their bets that the Reserve Bank will cut the official cash rate when it reviews policy next week.
McIntyre said the Reserve Bank will probably start cutting interest rates this year.
“It’s just how aggressive they’re going to cut,” he said.
Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund units gained 0.7% to $4.11. Dairy prices rose at today’s Global Dairy Trade auction, and investors are also weighing up the dairy co-operative’s plans to sell its consumer businesses.
Rural services firm PGG Wrightson climbed 3.5% to $2.08.
Manawa Energy sought a trading halt of its shares, which were last at $4.28, saying it planned to release a statement downgrading earnings guidance due to a likely impairment from a customer not paying a bill, and adverse wholesale energy markets.
Rising energy prices led to Oji Fibre Solutions announcing plans to close its Penrose mill, and Winstone Pulp International this week paused operations at its pulp mill and sawmill.
Energy companies were mixed: Genesis Energy, which operates the Huntly back-up power station, gained 2.1% to $2.21, while Meridian Energy slipped 0.2% to $6.42 on a volume of 1.7 million shares. Mercury NZ, which bought the retail book from Manawa’s predecessor Trustpower, fell 2.2% to $6.795 on a volume of 1.2 million, and Contact Energy declined 0.7% to $8.46.
Precinct Property NZ rose 1.7% to $1.22 with 9.8 million shares changing hands, while Ryman Healthcare was unchanged at $4.50 on a volume of 4 million. Spark NZ gained 1.4% to sit at $4.40 with 3.5 million shares traded.
Auckland International Airport increased 0.8% to $7.45 on a volume of 1.7 million and The a2 Milk Company fell 1.4% to $7.26 with 1.1 million shares traded.
Arvida, which faces a takeover off at $1.70 a share, slipped 0.6% to $1.62 with 3.9 million shares traded.
McIntyre said there’s still a lot of private equity money floating around and these investors are typically attracted to companies such as Arvida, which have been trading at significant discounts to the net asset values in the low interest rate environment.
The weaker kiwi dollar makes that even more attractive, and there may well be more merger and acquisition activity, he said. The kiwi jumped about half a US cent after the employment data, trading at 60.15 US cents at 5.30pm.
Property developer CDL Investments fell 4% to 73 cents after reporting a decline in first-half profit due in part to the Government’s tax changes to depreciation on commercial property.
CDL shareholder and hotel operator Millennium & Copthorne Hotels NZ was unchanged at $1.60 after reporting a first-half loss due to the tax changes. Both companies reported increased underlying earnings.
