“I guess the market is waiting for the Reserve Bank monetary policy review and seeing if there is any hint of an earlier interest rate cut that the economy is going to need,” Goodson said.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index was up 0.84% to 7828.3 points at 6pm NZ time.

In the United States, the market is now anticipating two rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year following an unexpected rise in unemployment and an easing in wage growth. The New York Fed survey showed that consumer inflation expectations declined in June.

At home, market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was up 27c to $30.10; Meridian Energy gained 9c to $6.60; Fletcher Building increased 7c or 2.41% to $2.97; Freightways added 16c or 2.12% to $7.69; Mainfreight collected $1 to $70; and a2 Milk was up 12c to $7.51.

Skellerup increased 13c or 3.34% to $4.02; Gentrack picked up 25c or 2.34% to $10.95; Sky TV gained 6c or 2.47% to $2.49; Goodman Property Trust added 6c or 3% to $2.06; NZME was up 4c or 4.17% to $1; Eroad rose 6c or 5.08% to $1.24; and Serko improved 10c or 2.92% to $3.53.

Chorus, up 2c to $7.71, reported that fibre connections increased to 71.4% in its network footprint during the fourth quarter ending June – Auckland was at 76.6%, Wellington 70.7% and Dunedin 76.5%. There were 10,000 connections in the quarter, slightly lower than 12,000 in the third quarter.

Chorus said average monthly data use, 623 gigabytes in June, was higher than the Covid lockdown levels. There are now 45,000 copper connections in the Chorus fibre areas.

Goodson said Chorus is in a battleground with the 5G roll-out and improving fixed wireless but the latest numbers don’t shed any light on this. “Chorus is trading slightly above its regulated asset base and they will struggle to charge their regulated return if people switch more to wireless than fibre.”

ANZ Bank gained 38c to $32.01 after being given the green light to buy Suncorp Bank in Queensland, with the addition of 3000 employees and 1.2 million customers on August 1. Fellow dual-listed banking group Westpac was up 52c to $30.36.

AFT Pharmaceuticals increased 15c or 5.17% to $3.05 after announcing an agreement with Hainan Haivao Co to distribute Crystaderm cream, for treating skin infections, in China – the second largest pharma market in the world.

Other gainers were Colonial Motor collecting 12c or 1.87% to $6.55; Accordant Group up 2c or 5% to 42c; Allied Farmers increasing 3c or 4% to 78c; Green Cross Health adding 3c or 3.9% to 80c; PGG Wrightson rebounding 11c or 5.37% to $2.16; and The Warehouse up 2c or 2.11% to 97c.

Napier Port was down 7c or 2.95% to $2.30 after reporting a 29.6% increase in container movements to 72,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) and a 7.4% lift in bulk cargo volume to 800,000 tonnes for the third quarter.

The nine-month container volume was 171,000 TEUs, down 2.3%, and bulk cargo 2.6 million tonnes, up 17.1% compared with the previous corresponding period.

Michael Hill was down 2c or 3.64% to 53c; Move Logistics declined 1.5c or 5.77% to 24.5c; Restaurant Brands shed 6c or 2.26% to $2.60; Blackpearl Group eased 2c or 3.03% to 64c; 2 Cheap Cars decreased 2c or 2.44% to 80c; and Being AI was down 0.005c or 7.25% to 6.4c.

Rua Bioscience increased 1.7c or 39.53% to 6c after telling the market that medicinal cannabis demand in Germany was greater than expected and it is increasing its production to meet orders.

New Talisman Gold Mines, up 0.0005c or 2.7% to 1.9c, is making a one-for-one rights offer at 0.018c a share to raise $2m. The company said: “If we cannot complete this capital raise, the board’s view is that there are very few options left for the company.”