Market commentaries
WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares fell in a regionwide selloff as trade war fears rose.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp and Synlait Milk dropped. The S&P/NZX50 Index dropped 43.88 points, or 0.5%, to 8980.31. Within the index, 23 stocks fell, 17 rose and 10 were unchanged. Turnover was $67 million.
The local benchmark index followed most indices around Asia lower. The ASX 200 was down, alongside Hong Kong’s Hang Seng down 0.2% and China’s CSI 300 down 0.5%.
‘‘It’s really led by further fear of a trade war between Trump and China, it’s just an overarching element of nervousness in markets at the moment, as we head into what should be a pretty good reporting season, particularly in the US, and locally here,’’ Rickey Ward, NZ equity manager at JBWere, said.
‘‘It gives you the impression there’s these other elements lurking in the background that are creating a level of uncertainty, and markets are reflecting that, where people are unwilling to do an awful lot.’’
Fisher & Paykel led the index lower, down 1.8% to $14.53, Synlait Milk fell 1.7% to $11.06, Investore Property dropped 1.3% to $1.49, and Metlifecare was down 1.3% to $6.10.
Kathmandu Holdings was the best performer, rising 3.3% to $3.16. Skellerup Holdings gained 1% to $1.99 and Trade Me Group advanced 0.8% to $4.86.
Fletcher Building rose 0.6% to $7.05.
Outside the benchmark index, Delegat Group rose 1.2% to $8.75. New Zealand’s largest listed winemaker said its operating net profit in the year to June lifted 17% to a record $44.9 million, underpinned by record global case sales, lower cost of sales per case, higher yielding 2016 and 2017 vintages and lower financing costs.
Australian shares fell nearly o.5%, led by losses in healthcare stocks, while soft weekend property auction results undermined banks, whose business model relies heavily on home loans.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 26.9 points, or 0.43%, to close at 6241.5 points and the All Ordinaries fell 25.2 points, or 0.4%, to 6326.7 points.
A confluence of mixed earnings from the big Wall Street banks and concerns stemming from a weak local auction clearance rate hurt sentiment, driving the main financial index 0.4% lower.
‘‘The auction results in Australia over the weekend continued to deteriorate, that paints a picture of a lack of demand for bank products like home loans,’’ Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at CFD and FX provider AxiTrader, said.
The big four banks led the losses. Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank closed 0.8% and 0.7% lower at $74.24 and $27.84 respectively.
Healthcare stocks were the biggest drag on the benchmark, the healthcare index sliding 1.9%.
The Australian dollar appreciated slightly against the greenback.
The healthcare sector is highly reliant on exports, and earns a substantial portion of its income in the United States, and therefore benefits from a weaker Aussie.
Index heavyweight CSL fell 2.9% to $198.64.
The Aussie mining index closed down 0.9% at the start of a week packed with quarterly production figures from mining and energy companies.
‘‘The current reporting is going to be strong but the guidance is going to be key. It is going be difficult for any of these big miners to be very optimistic, given the uncertainties on trade and global growth,’’ McKenna said.
Chinese steelmaking raw materials were generally weaker, pressured by worries over waning demand after a new round of production curbs in the country’s top steelmaking city.
Tangshan city, in the northern province of Hebei, ordered steel mills on Friday to shut sintering plants for five days from July 13 to July 18, due to forecasts of heavy smog.
Mining stocks dipped. BHP was down 0.8% to $33.07 and Rio Tinto slipped 0.5% to $79.41. — BusinessDesk/AAP