Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had fallen 1.62% to 7762.1 points at 6pm NZ time, with the banks weaker.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.14% to 41,433.48 points and has declined 3.22% over the last two trading days because of US President Donald Trump’s tariff shifts.
The S&P 500 declined 0.76% to 5572.07 points and 3.46% over the last two days, bringing the index to the brink of a correction – being 10% from its high of 6118.71,
The Nasdaq Composite followed up its worst day since September 2022 – a 4% slide – with a decrease of 0.18% to 17,436.1 points.
The market was rattled when Trump said on Truth Social he would double the duty on Canadian steel and aluminium imports to 50% in response to Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s 25% surcharge on electricity exported to the United States.
Ford later said he would temporarily suspend the surcharge following discussions and a Trump adviser said the 50% tariffs would not be imposed.
One US commentator said “this market is just blatantly sick and tired of the back-and-forth on trade policy”.
At home, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare led the market down with a fall of $1.63 or 4.66% to $33.32. The company launched a new Nova Nasal mask for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea in Australia and New Zealand.
Fisher & Paykel’s competitor ResMed was down 5.12% to A$35.60 ($39.25) on the Australian market.
Briscoe Group gained 5c to $4.60 after reporting revenue of $791.47m, just 0.06% below the previous year’s record sales, for the year ending January 26. Net profit was down 28% to $60.63m and Briscoe is paying a final dividend of 10c a share on March 27.
Homeware sales declined slightly from $490.1m to $489.8m, and sporting goods decreased from $301.8m to $301.6m. Gross margin percentage declined from 42.4% to 40.37%. Online sales increased to 19.69% of the business and Briscoe is introducing the Marketplacer platform.
The retailer told the market that “looking forward, we do not underestimate just how tough trading will continue to be, with the first half expected to be especially challenging”. Profitability is expected to be more normalised in the second half.
Goodson said Briscoe’s result was in line with its guidance but showed “no real glimmers of green shoots. The February retail statistics were not buoyant but up a little, and maybe the sector has stopped contracting”.
Elsewhere in the retail sector, The Warehouse fell 4c or 4.26% to 90c; Hallenstein Glasson decreased 8c to $8.22; KMD Brands was down 0.005c to 37.5c; and Michael Hill was up 0.005c to 49c.
Dual-listed banking groups ANZ and Westpac were down $1.22 or 3.79% to $31.01 and $1.12 or 3.3% to $32.85 respectively, while Heartland declined 3c or 3.61% to 80c.
Summerset was down 23c or 1.92% to $11.75; Ryman Healthcare decreased 7c or 2.33% to $2.93; Vista Group declined 21c or 5.38% to $3.69; Skellerup shed 11c or 2.16% to $4.98; and Port of Tauranga was down 15c or 2.22% to $6.60.
Tourism Holdings declined 7c or 3.78% to $1.78; Vulcan Steel fell 30c or 3.33% to $8.70; Steel & Tube was down 2c or 2.44% to 80c; Move Logistics decreased 2c or 8.33% to 22c; PGG Wrightson was down 11c or 5.37% to $1.94; and My Food Bag shed 1.1c or 5.61% to 18.5c.
Freightways increased 32c or 2.94% to $11.19; Bremworth collected 3c or 4.76% to 66c; T&G Global added 3c or 1.88% to $1.63; and Third Age Health improved 6c or 1.82% to $3.35.
Tower, down 2.5c or 1.72% to $1.425, told the market its capital return of $45m to shareholders will involve cancelling one in every 10 shares held for a cash sum of $1.1858 a share.
Chorus was unchanged at $8.06 after the Commerce Commission recommended deregulation of wholesale copper services because of alternative broadband technologies.
Chorus now has 80,000 copper connections in areas where fibre is unavailable, this total having fallen by 21% in the past year because of better alternatives.
