NZ stocks slump and dollar falls to four-month low - Market close

Auckland International Airport shares decreased 8.5c to $8.005. Photo / Alex Burton

The New Zealand sharemarket, down 1 per cent, had its biggest single-day decline in four months. But it wasn’t as bad as the widespread selling and falls offshore.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index battled gamely on light trading to close at 11,804.84, down 111.94 points or 0.94 per cent. The previous largest single-day fall was 1.07 per cent on November 16.

There were 104 decliners and just 35 gainers on the main board with 21.04 million shares worth $80.22 million changing hands.

Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had fallen 1.68 per cent to 7622.1 points at 6pm NZ time. The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index was down 1.64 per cent to 16,328.74 points and the Japanese Nikkei 225 had declined 1.81 per cent to 38,522.37.

The sharp falls have come from increased volatility created by rising bond yields and worries over the Middle East conflict.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.65 per cent to 37,735.11 points; S&P 500 declined 1.2 per cent to 5061.82 (down 2.66 per cent over the last two trading days); and Nasdaq Composite fell 1.79 per cent to 15,885.02 (down 3.41 per cent).

The US 10 Year Treasury Note yield reached 4.616 per cent, its highest level since mid-November, and the NZ 10 Year Government Bond yield increased 6.2 basis points to 4.848 per cent.

The NZ dollar fell to a four-month low against the strengthening American greenback at US58.91c after trading at an intraday high of US59.1c.

Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said investment funds have had record exposures to US equities and because of the increased volatility, the systematic cutting of risk budgets meant they needed to sell stocks.

“This ripples around the world, and we are a small sideshow because we don’t have the same high-beta growth stocks – the lower-risk stocks outperformed today.”

Goodson said there were no signs of panic selling in the local market but “we are caught up in the offshore selling”.

Ebos Group was down 49c to $35.01; Fisher & Paykel Healthcare eased 23c to $26.40; a2 Milk fell 21c or 3.34 per cent to $6.07; Fletcher Building declined 8c or 2.03 per cent to $3.87; Chorus shed 22.5c or 2.99 per cent to $7.305 and Skellerup decreased 10c or 2.33 per cent to $4.20.

Hallenstein Glasson fell 39c or 6.5 per cent to $5.61; KMD Brands was down 2c or 3.57 per cent to 54c; Freightways shed 14c to $8.56; Arvida Group declined 4c or 3.54 per cent to $12.09; and Seeka eased 6c or 2.01 per cent to $2.92.

Auckland International Airport decreased 8.5c to $8.005 after reporting a 12 per cent increase in total passengers to 1.69 million in March, with international passengers climbing 22 per cent to 894,616. The airport said international load factors were 81 per cent, the same as last year, and capacity had increased 24 per cent.

Air New Zealand was down 1.5c or 2.48 per cent to 59c; Manawa Energy declined 9c or 1.94 per cent to $4.55; Sanford shed 13c or 3.15 per cent to $4; PGG Wrightson fell 14c or 6.76 per cent to $1.93; Vulcan Steel eased 30c or 3.24 per cent to $8.95; and NZX decreased 4c or 3.45 per cent to $1.12.

Among leading banks, Westpac was down $1 or 3.48 per cent to $27.70 and ANZ eased 62c or 1.97 per cent to $30.89.

In the property sector, Investore declined 3c or 2.61 per cent to $1.12; Argosy was down 2c or 1.74 per cent to $1.13; and Kiwi shed 1.5c or 1.78 per cent to 83c.

New listing Being AI was trimmed 2.3c or 21.3 per cent to 8.5c.

Meridian, up 4c to $5.83, reported a 6.7 per cent increase in retail sales volumes in March compared with the same month last year, and third-quarter volumes were up 8.2 per cent at a 6.1 per cent higher average price. Customer numbers increased 2.2 per cent.

Meridian’s national hydro storage lifted to 102 per cent from 93 per cent of historical average in the month to April 15.

Scott Technology, gaining 3c to $3, reported an 11 per cent increase in revenue to $140.86m and net profit of $4.46, down 43 per cent for the six months ending February. Scott is paying an interim dividend of 5c a share on May 15 and has $161m worth of forward work.

Other gainers were Tower rising 3.5c or 4.77 per cent to 76.5c; Delegat Group up 14c or 2.13 per cent to $6.70; and Green Cross Health increasing 3c or 3 per cent to $1.03.