Market close: Investors remain anxious over Russia-Ukraine tensions

Russia has been building its presence along the the Ukrainian border. Photo / AP

The New Zealand sharemarket took a turn for the worse, falling in late afternoon trading as the Russia-Ukraine tension continued to weigh on sentiment – despite more solid financial results locally.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index reached as high as 12,184.08 during the day but it closed at 12,114.63, down 41.71 points or 0.34 per cent.

There were 105 decliners and 36 gainers over the whole market, with improved volume of 44.46 million share transactions worth $212.89 million.

United States markets were closed for Washington's birthday but the US futures pointed to another sell-off on Wall Street overnight. The Australian S&P/ASX 200 Index had fallen 1.22 per cent to 7145 points at 5.45pm NZ time.

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said Russian troops moving into the separatist areas of the east Ukraine region of Donbass escalated concerns of a war.

"It's a Putin put or sell and the markets came off dramatically," he said. "Because of the defensive nature of our market with utility and healthcare stocks, we fared the best and held up against the grain.

"There will be ongoing anxiety over the next few days about what happens in Ukraine, unfortunately. It won't help if there is a war, but it may result in central banks such as the Federal Reserve not being as aggressive in raising interest rates.

"We've had a pretty solid reporting season but we are being swamped by the macro-economic situation happening in Ukraine," Solly said.

Leading stocks Fisher and Paykel Healthcare increased 30c to $28.30; EBOS Group was up 50c to $41.20; and Meridian Energy rose 22c or 4.34 per cent to $5.29.

Rural services company PGG Wrightson gained 17c or 3.27 per cent to $5.37 after reporting a record financial result for the six months ending December. Net profit rose 32 per cent to $22.5m and operating earnings (ebitda) increased 11c to $47.4m on revenue of $552.39m, up 10.6 per cent.

With high overseas demand for red meat, dairy products and fruit, PGG has raised its full-year ebitda forecast to $62m. It is paying an interim dividend of 14c a share on April 1.

Mercury Energy, now the country's largest wind generator, was up 4c to $6.07 after reporting half-year revenue of $873m, down 7.5 per cent, and operating earnings (ebitdaf) of $242m, down 17 per cent, because of the Norske Skog contract close-out and acquisition of Tilt Renewables New Zealand business.

Mercury's net profit rose 228.5 per cent to $427m, mainly due to the sale of the 19.9 per cent holding in Tilt Renewables, and it is paying an interim dividend of 8c a share on April 1. Full-year ebitdaf guidance remains at $570m, which includes the impact of buying the Trustpower retail business.

Chorus and a2 Milk gave up some of their gains from the day before, falling 23c or 3.13 per cent to $7.11, and 19c or 3.01 per cent to $6.12 respectively.

Tourism Holdings, in the process of buying Australian Apollo Tourism & Leisure, gained 6c or 2.34 per cent to $2.62 after telling the market it is likely to record a lower than expected loss of $4.4m for the six months ending December and net debt will be $19m. Revenue will be $175m, a decrease of $31m.

Auckland International Airport was the day's biggest trader with 7.4m shares worth $52.36m changing hands, and its share price was down 12c to $6.95.

Port of Tauranga was down 13c to $6.25; Hallenstein Glasson fell 19c or 3.06 per cent to $6.01; DGL Group declined 13c or 4.19 per cent to $2.97; Pacific Edge went under $1, falling 6c or 5.88 per cent to 96c; EROAD shed 16c or 3.91 per cent to $3.93; and Rakon was down 5c or 2.78 per cent to $1.75.

Heartland Group Holdings, down 8c or 3.32 per cent to $2.33, reported a 7.8 per cent increase in half-year net profit to $47.5m on revenue of $130.7m, up 4.3 per cent. Heartland is paying an interim dividend of 5.5c a share on March 16.

The bank's lending grew 13.9 per cent, but the changes to the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act slowed growth in motor and online home loans in January and February. This could have an impact on the six months ending June, but reverse mortgages are growing.

NZX, down 6c or 3.7 per cent to $1.56, has opened its retail offer, with shareholders able to buy one new share for every nine held at a discounted price of $1.42. NZX is aiming to raise $44m including the completed institutional offer, which attracted $16m.

MOVE Logistics, which is restructuring, fell 8c or 5.41 per cent to $1.40 after reporting a loss of $1.36m on steady revenue of $181.39m for the six months ending December. Its operating earnings (ebitda) were down 12.8 per cent to $28.7m.