Market commentary
AUCKLAND: The New Zealand sharemarket had its sharpest fall of the week, dropping more than half a percent as investors' confidence waned and offshore bourses were off the boil.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index was down 84.97 points, or 0.67%, to 12,509.84, after reaching an intraday high of 12,642.56. The index fell 0.3% over the whole week, with two days of gains.
There were 44 gainers and 94 decliners over the whole market, and volume was strong for a Friday, with 60.86 million shares worth $232.3 million changing hands.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 1.25% to 6800.10 at 5.45pm (NZ time), and overnight the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.38% to 31,493.34, S&P 500 Index declined 0.44% to 3913.97 and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.72% to 13,865.35.
Head of research with Fat Prophets, Greg Smith said investor sentiment had been dented by the Auckland lockdown, the rise in longterm wholesale interest rates and the tougher loantovalue ratios on home loans to cool the housing market.
‘‘The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is meeting next week and there may be some caution ahead of that. There’s a lot for investors to digest at the moment, and I guess we were overdue for a pause,’’ he said.
‘‘But ironically, the market has lost some of its exuberance at a time when the Covid vaccine has arrived in New Zealand, and we had dividend surprises this week led by Fletcher Building. So far, the earnings picture has been good and we have a big week coming up for company results. ‘‘I've no doubt the market will go up.’’
The energy stocks had another sliding day. Contact was down 14c to $7.11, Meridian fell 24c to $5.80, Mercury slipped 16c to $6.40, Genesis declined 7c to $3.55, Trustpower lost 27c to $8.38 and Tilt Renewables was down 11c to $6.39.
There was heavy trading in Auckland International Airport, 5.32 million of its shares worth $36.15 million changing hands, and its share price fell 15c or 2.17% to $6.75.
Freightways fell 24c to $10.86, Ebos Group lost 20c to $29.10, Ryman Healthcare was down 70c to $15.05, Port of Tauranga decreased 15c to $7.39, Fletcher Building shed 6c to $6.44, Napier Port was down 8c to $3.38 and Infratil fell 13c to $7.28.
The blue chip stocks to rise were Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, up 55c to $32.95, a2 Milk gained 22c to $11.17 and Skellerup Holdings picked up 5c to $4.20, following its strong halfyear result.
Restaurant Brands increased 14c to $12.09, South Port New Zealand rose 13c to $8.89, PGG Wrightson continued a good run, climbing 8c to $3.32, T&G Global gained 6c to $2.98, and ERoad was up 10c to $4.22.
Moa Group, which will be known as Savor Group on Monday, rose 0.007c to 20c after selling its brewing operation for $1.9 million to Mallbeca, a company associated with chief executive Stephen Smith. Savor has 13 bars, restaurants and function venues in Auckland.
In the United States overnight, Reddit forum darling GameStop fell a further 11.43% to $US40.69 ($NZ56.39) after reaching a high of $US483. GameStop's price is still up 120% since January 1 and a Congressional hearing is investigating the extreme market volatility last month in the shares. —