Market close: NZ shares fall as geopolitical uncertainty has investors wary

Uncertainty over the war in Ukraine has influenced sharemarket activity. Photo / AP

The New Zealand share market opened the week with a fall of nearly one cent on the back of weaker offshore trading and further uncertainty in the Russian-Ukraine deadlock.

Following a brief rebellion by the Russian private military group Wagner, the S&P/NZX 50 Index fell at the opening and closed on 11,638.68, down 98.86 points or 0.84 per cent. The index has now risen almost 1.5 per cent so far this year.

Trading was light with 22.23 million shares worth $81.57 million changing hands, and there were 38 gainers and 90 decliners over the whole market. The healthcare and industrial sectors were down 1.86 per cent and 1.22 per cent respectively.

Jeremy Sullivan, investment adviser with Hamilton Hindin Greene, said offshore markets were weaker in their last trading session and the geopolitical uncertainty – which affects commodity prices – made investors wary.

“The Wagner Group must have had the quickest attempted coup in history. Over the weekend it shows how quickly things can change. What we were concerned about six to 12 months ago – getting on top of inflation and rising interest rates – is now less of a worry,” Sullivan said.

The United States market rally stalled at the weekend. The Nasdaq Composite, down 1.01 per cent to 13,492.52 points, broke an eight-week winning streak, though it is still up nearly 29 per cent so far this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.65 per cent to 33,727.43 points and S&P 500 decreased 0.27 per cent to 4348.33, ending three- and five-week winning streaks.

Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 0.4 per cent to 7070.5 points at 6pm NZ time, and the index was sitting at an increase of 0.5 per cent for the year.

At home, Ebos Group – still reeling from losing its Chemist Warehouse Australian contract – led the market down with a fall of $1.31 or 3.56 per cent to $35.49.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 29c to $23.48; Auckland International Airport declined 11c to $8.35; Freightways shed 16c or 1.89 per cent to $8.30; Mainfreight was down $1.05 to $71.95; Fletcher Building retreated 8c to $5.18; and Skellerup Holdings decreased 10c or 2.14 per cent to $4.58.

Retirement village operators Summerset Group declined 11c to $9.45 and Ryman Healthcare was up 3c to $6.53.

In the energy sector, Meridian was down 9c to $5.31; Contact declined 13c to $7.87; Mercury decreased 7c to $6.34; and Manawa shed 4c to $4.71.

Michael Hill fell 6c or 5.88 per cent to 96c; Turners Automotive was down 8c or 2.17 per cent to $3.60; NZME declined 3c or 3.03 per cent to 96c; and Comvita decreased 8c or 2.78 per cent to $2.80.

PGG Wrightson shed 9c or 2.15 per cent to $4.09; Green Cross Health decreased 6c or 4.29 per cent to $1.34; and CDL Investments was down 2c or 2.47 per cent to 79c.

Carbon Fund fell 12c or 8.45 per cent to $1.30. Sullivan said the fund was trading at “a large 20c disconnect” to its net tangible assets ($1.53) because of the failure of the past two carbon auctions.

Infratil gained 16c to $9.835; Napier Port collected 4c to $2.44; Serko increased 8c or 2.31 per cent to $3.55; and Steel & Tube was up 2c or 1.85 per cent to $1.10.

Takeover target Eroad was up 1c to $1.24; Sanford added 8c or 1.98 per cent to $4.13; and 2 Cheap Cars (formerly NZ Automotive Investments) increased 2.5c or 9.26 per cent to 29.5c.

Air New Zealand picked up 0.005c to 78c after telling the market it carried 1.168 million passengers in May, just shy of 1.281 million for the same month in pre-Covid 2019. Long-haul passengers totalled 137,000 compared with 165,000 in 2019.

Genesis Energy, down 2c to $2.705, has opened its $240m 30-year green bonds offer which is expected to close on Thursday. Genesis is in effect rolling over long-term capital.

Ventia Services, unchanged at $3.13, has secured a five-year maintenance contract with the Australian Department of Defence and will deliver more than $390m in revenue over that period, with a possible extension of another five years.

Software firm Blackpearl Group, unchanged at 45c, raised $2.2m through a private placement at 42c a share.

Rua Bioscience was down 0.006c or 3.85 per cent to 15c after receiving licences to trade in Australia. Rua will launch a range of medicinal cannabis products across the ditch in the third quarter of this year.

Embark Education Group was up 2c or 3.45 per cent to 60c on its last day of trading on the NZX before it delists and maintains its primary listing on the Australian exchange.