Market commentary

AUCKLAND: Rising interest rates continued to weigh on the New Zealand sharemarket as it opened the week on a flat note and telecommunications company Chorus took a hit. The S&P/NZX 50 Index traded in positive territory for most of the day before having a late fall, ending 17.82 points or 0.14% down at 13,075.41, after reaching an intraday high of 13,142.02. There were 80 gainers and 65 decliners across the whole market on light volume of 51.2 million share transactions worth $136.74 million. Jeremy Sullivan, investment adviser with Hamilton Hindin Greene, said the market was struggling against increased interest rates, and was heading towards its worst year in a decade. ``Assets are being repriced, especially those low growth, dividendpaying stocks. There is still underlying earnings growth for [many] companies but it’s not keeping pace with the rising interest rates and inflation. ``The Australian bond index is having its worst year of returns for 27 years, and investors are leaving bond funds. Interest rates will be the single biggest headwind for markets, not Covid,'' Sullivan said. The Bloomberg AusBonds Composite index has fallen 3.1% this year, placing the benchmark on track for the poorest showing since 1994 — a year marked by a selloff known as the ``great bond massacre''. Chorus is one of those dividendpaying stocks, and its share price fell 16c or 2.5% to $6.23. It has fallen 24.45% in the past 12 months. Spark was down 3.5c to $4.515. It was a quiet day for moves among the top 50 stocks. Ebos Group gained 58c to $35.85, retirement village operator Ryman Healthcare was up 9c to $14.90, and SkyCity Entertainment rose 7c or 2.23% to $3.21. ANZ Banking Group and Westpac Banking Corporation rose 35c to $29.80 and 29c to $27.07 respectively. Property companies Stride was up 7c or 3.04% to $2.37; Property for Industry increased 4.5c to $2.955; and Argosy gained 2.5c to $1.595. Contact Energy is planning a $200 million green bond offer and the proceeds will be used for financing renewable generation. Its share price gained 7c to $8.18. Meridian was down 5c to $4.97; and Mercury was up 9c to $6.19. Market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 24c to $30.61; Mainfreight shed $1.41 to $88.61; Skellerup Holdings fell 11c to $5.85; and Synlait Milk fell 10c or 2.63% to $3.70. — NZ Herald