Index loses 14 points on high turnover

SkyCity shares were down 2 per cent yesterday to close at $3.88.

After last week’s turmoil, spooked investors bail out of dual-listed stocks with A2 Milk, Xero leading the way.

New Zealand shares fell yesterday as investors remained cautious after last week's spike in volatility, when equity markets were sold off on fears over the Chinese economy. Dual-listed stocks, such as A2 Milk Co, Xero, Skycity Entertainment Group, and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group declined.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index slipped 14.24 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 5656.24. Within the index, 38 stocks fell, eight rose and four were unchanged. Turnover was a bigger-than-usual $249 million.

Traders are still nervous after last week's movements, which included the biggest one-day drop on the NZX 50 in four years, as an uncertain outlook for China's economy spooked investors and weighed on equities. Meanwhile, the possibility the US Federal Reserve will begin hiking rates this month was reiterated over the weekend by Fed vice-chairman Stanley Fischer. This reduces the attraction of dividend paying stocks which are common on New Zealand's market.

"We're still expecting a bit of volatility. I don't think we're through the volatility that we experienced from last week so investors have been pretty cautious," said Grant Williamson, director at Hamilton Hindin Greene.

Dual-listed stocks fell. A2 Milk dropped 4.1 per cent to 70c. Xero retreated 2.5 per cent to $13.90. SkyCity fell 2 per cent to $3.88. ANZ slid 1.9 per cent to $30.91. Trade Me Group declined 1.7 per cent to $3.50.

Spark New Zealand was the best performer on the day, up 3.4 per cent to a six-month high of $3.38. It has gained some 22 per cent since it signalled plans on August 21 to pay bigger dividends as it starts chasing revenue growth for the first time in six years. "That stock's been the best performer on the market since they announced that result," Williamson said.

Pacific Edge led the benchmark index lower, down 5.3 per cent to 54c.

Outside the benchmark index, earning season largely wrapped up, Pyne Gould Corp, which restated its 2014 accounts to remove an anticipated gain on the sale of Perpetual Trust, declined 3.5 per cent to 28c after it said 2015 profit shrank by 99 per cent to 38,000 as interest income fell, expenses jumped and the asset management firm didn't get a repeat of the previous year's one-time gain.

Tenon, whose locally produced wood mouldings are sold in the US, surged 18 per cent to $2.35 when it announced its first dividend in 17 years after it trebled annual profit to US$6 million, as a rebound in the US housing market and a decline in the Kiwi dollar against the greenback boosted earnings. Rubicon rose 13 per cent to 34c.

Allied Farmers dropped 11 per cent to 5.7c after it posted an 88 per cent drop in annual profit to $128,000 after an overhaul of the business increased the firm's tax bill, and as its profitable livestock unit was held back by the slowing dairy sector.

On the Alternative Index, Foley Family Wines, controlled by American billionaire Bill Foley, was unchanged at $1.44. It said full-year operating earnings more than doubled on increased sales of bottled wine in Australia and New Zealand, and a "modest" profit from a growing pool of bulk wine.