NZX50 down for second day

New Zealand followed world markets lower yesterday as Covid-19 fears worsened across Asia and Wall Street had its second down day in a row.

The benchmark S&P/NZX50 Index fell 1.1 per cent, or 143.2 points, to 12,535.3, following a 0.7 per cent decline on Tuesday.

Greg Main, a director at Jarden, said the index had recovered slightly from earlier lows. ‘‘We’re a little bit weaker, following those global trends as well to some extent.’’

Top stock Fisher & Paykel Healthcare fell 1.4 per cent to $33.00. A2 Milk was down a further 3.6 per cent to $8.31, following a 3.3 per cent decline on Tuesday.

‘‘[Rival] Danone released their result overnight, and they indicated around infant formula channels in China were impacted by Covid-related disruptions,’’ said Main. ‘‘Some commentary around that seems to have rubbed off on them [A2].’’

The more the share price fell, the more A2 was at risk of falling out of global MSCI indices, he said.

‘‘They’ve had such a decline from where they once were, but in that last quarter they fell nearly 30 per cent, they had a bit of a bounce, and they’re back to where they were at the end of the quarter again.’’

Meridian Energy was down 2.2 per cent at $5.62, while Contact Energy was down just 0.1 per cent at $7.49.

Meridian’s monthly operating update on Tuesday showed hydro storage falling to low levels.

‘‘Hydro’s doing it tough this year, and they’re pretty exposed to that,’’ Main said.

Other stocks to see a decline included Pushpay, down 2.6 per cent at $1.86, and Ryman Healthcare, down 3.6 per cent at $14.10.

Overseas, Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index was down 0.7 per cent, or 52.3 points, at 6965.5.

Shares skidded in Asia yesterday after Wall Street closed lower for a second day, led by drops in technology companies and banks.

Worsening coronavirus outbreaks in Asia have cast a shadow over prospects for a rebound from the pandemic.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell more than 2 per cent, and other benchmarks also declined.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 gave back 0.7 per cent to 4134.94, pulling the index further below the record high it set on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.8 per cent to

33,821.30. After shedding an early gain, the technology-heavy Nasdaq slid 0.9 per cent, to

13,786.27.