Second half-year starts with no let-up in decline

The New Zealand sharemarket failed to hold on to early gains and opened the second half of the year with an agonising 1 per cent fall. The S&P/NZX 50 index reached a lunchtime high of 10,897.11 points but began sliding in the afternoon and crumbled in the last half-hour matching session.

The index closed at 10,753.16, down 115.54 points or 1.06 per cent. After an extremely rocky first half-year, the index is now down 17.5 per cent.

In the United States, the S&P 500 had its worst half-year since 1970, falling 20.58 per cent; the Dow Jones Industrial Average, down 15.31 per cent, had its largest first-half drop since 1962; and the Nasdaq Composite suffered its largest percentage drop ever with a fall of 29.51 per cent.

On the local market, trading was again light with 35.77 million shares worth $95.13 million changing hands, and there were 59 gainers and 85 decliners. The market is expected to be quiet again on Monday with the US markets closed for Independence Day and Australia beginning its school holidays.

“What we are seeing now is economic data and activity coming in a lot cooler than what it was, and government bond yields are pulling back,” said Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management.

The New Zealand 10-year government bond yield fell 1.42 per cent to 3.7 per cent, after sitting at 4.29 per cent on June 15.

The market was led down by leading stocks Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, falling 43c or 2.15 per cent to $19.55; Ebos Group

decreasing $1.20 or 3.08 per cent to $37.81; Mainfreight declining 90c to $69; Fletcher Building down 9c to $4.95; and a2 Milk

shedding 9c or 1.83 per cent to $4.84.

Auckland International Airport held its head up, increasing 8c to $7.26; and Air New Zealand gained 1.5c or 2.63 per cent to

58.5c.

The energy stocks had a mixed day. Manawa Energy was up 10c to $6.07; Vector increased 5c to $4.22; Genesis gained 6c or 2.26 per cent to $2.71; Contact was down

21c or 2.88 per cent to $7.07; Mercury shed

17c or 3.01 per cent to $5.48; and Meridian declined 7.5c to $4.605.

Winton Land improved 6c or 2.19 per cent to $2.80; Ventia Services Group rose

7c or 2.75 per cent to $2.62; and The Colonial Motor Company was up 24c or 2.52 per cent to $9.75.

New Zealand Oil & Gas was up 2.5c or

5.68 per cent to 46.5c after reporting that the latest well in the Indonesian Mahato field has been drilled and is producing 1000 barrels of oil per day. NZOG subsidiary Cue Energy Resources has a 12.l5 per cent interest in Mahato.