Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said Australia’s inflationary pressures haven’t been quite the same as New Zealand’s.
“They didn’t shut down as much as we did and their immigration is back open and flowing,” he said. “What we are seeing at the moment is that inflation is close to peaking or has peaked, and the markets are getting information on both sides of the ledger. And they are reacting immediately to the economic data that represents either side.”
The US investors are also uncertain whether the Federal Reserve will slow the pace of its interest rate rises following hotter-than-expected data, and the major indices were weaker.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.4 per cent to 33,947.1 points; S&P 500 declined 1.79 per cent to 3998.84; and Nasdaq Composite fell 1.93 per cent to 11,239.94.
The Institute of Supply Management’s services data for November showed a jump to 56.5, well above expectations of 53.3, while the prices-paid index component was stuck at a high level. This followed an increase in the non-farm payrolls to 263,000, above the 200,000 estimate.
At home, Ebos Group was down 55c to $41.34 on trade worth $19.67m as buying from passive investment funds subsided after the company was included in the MSCI Small Cap Index.
Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 16c to $24 on trade worth $19.17m; Air New Zealand declined 1.5c or 1.91 per cent to 77c; Sanford decreased 9c or 2.03 per cent to $4.35; Tourism Holdings shed 7c or 1.89 per cent to $3.63; Rakon fell 4c or 3.51 per cent to $1.10; and Gentrack was down 9c or 3.6 per cent to $2.41.
The energy sector was softer. Meridian was down 7c to $4.96; Mercury fell 13.56c or 2.4 per cent to $5.50; Contact declined 8c to $7.72; Genesis decreased 5c or 1.92 per cent to $2.55; and Manawa was down 20c or 3.81 to $5.05.
Retailers The Warehouse Group declined 5c to $2.95; Hallenstein Glasson shed 10c or 1.79 per cent to $5.50; Briscoe decreased 5c to $5.01; Michael Hill fell 3c or 2.42 per cent to $1.21; and KMD Brands was down 3c or 2.75 per cent to $1.06.
Property companies Stride decreased 3c or 2.01 per cent to $1.46, and Argosy declined 2.8c or 2.35 per cent to $1.165m.
Property for Industry, down 3c to $2.36, has sold specialised cold storage facilities in Christchurch to an existing tenant for $21m, with settlement in April. Property for Industry paid $11.25m for the properties in 2012, and the proceeds will help fund the Bowden Rd redevelopment in Auckland.
Kiwi Property, down 0.005c to 92.5c, has completed the $151m sale of the Christchurch Northlands Shopping Centre and 43 Langdons Rd to Mackersy Property.
Port of Tauranga was up 11c to $6.31; a2 Milk increased 7c to $6.75; Synlait collected 12c or 3.53 to $3.52; Eroad recovered 3c or 2.56 per cent to $1.20; CDL Investments gained 1.5c or 1.95 per cent to 78.5c; Bremworth added 2c or 4.55 per cent to 46c; and MHM Automation was up 3c or 3.9 per cent to 80c.
Ventia Services Group was down 4c to $2.86 after telling the market it has secured a contract, worth $200m over three years, with Square Kilometre Array Observatory, which is building the world’s largest radio telescopes in West Australia and South Africa supported by 16 countries.
Ventia will provide the power and fibre networks and design the central processing facility at the Australian site.
Christchurch-based WasteCo, with revenue of around $18m and total assets worth more than $34m, had a lukewarm debut on the NZX, falling 1.5c or 15.79 per cent to 8c. WasteCo, established in 2013, arrived on the main board through a reverse listing of shell company Goodwood Capital.
Another new listing Blackpearl Group slumped further, down 29c or 39.19 per cent to 45c after listing last Friday at $1.25 – an incredible fall of more than 84 per cent in three days.
