NZ shares gain: F&P Healthcare rallies on big volume, Synlait extends gain

The S&P/NZX 50 Index advanced 36.28 points, or 0.3 percent, to 10,868.03. Within the index, 27 stocks rose, 16 fell, and seven were unchanged. Turnover was $225.7 million of which F&P Healthcare accounted for $91.9 million.

Stocks across Asia were mixed as investors digested gyrations in oil prices after attacks on Saudi Arabian processing facilities over the weekend. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index was up 0.1 percent in afternoon trading, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1 percent and Singapore's Straits Times Index was down 0.5 percent.

The heightened nervousness about geopolitics and upcoming Federal Reserve policy has been weighing on the kiwi dollar, which ended the local session at 63.31 US cents. The currency has dropped about 5.7 percent so far this year, benefitting exporters by increasing the value of their earnings in foreign markets.

F&P Healthcare rose 2 percent to $17 on a volume of 5.4 million shares, more than 10 times its 90-day average of 509,000. Of that, almost 4.8 million changed hands in one trade at $17 a share. The breathing mask respirator maker generates more than half its revenue in US dollars and has already raised its earnings guidance on the weaker currency outlook.