Market close: New Zealand shares ignore Wall St, ASX deep dives

The S&P/NZX 50 Index ended 3.39 points or 0.03 per cent ahead at 13,279.15, after hitting an intraday low of 13,1879.04. Photo / NZME

For the second time this week, the New Zealand sharemarket ignored deep dives on Wall Street and in Australia, and traded at its own pace, closing with a very small gain.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index picked up momentum in the afternoon and ended 3.39 points or 0.03 per cent ahead at 13,279.15, after hitting an intraday low of 13,1879.04.

Continuing worries about rising interest rates and inflation and the state of the Chinese property market sent Wall Street plunging for the third time in nine days.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 546.8 points or 1.59 per cent to 343,843.92 and finished September with a 4.3 per cent deficit. The S&P 500 was down 1.19 per cent to 4307.54 points, and 4.8 per cent for the month – its worst since March last year.

Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had tumbled 2.12 per cent to 7176.7 points at 5.45pm NZ time.

The New Zealand market was far from rattled as it entered "the dangerous" October which delivered the sharemarket crash in 1987 and the global financial crisis in 2007.

Mark Lister, head of private wealth research with Craigs Investment Partners, said October had the reputation of being a difficult month, but traditionally September has been the worst month of the year, and this was played in the United States will the overall market being down 5 per cent.

"Looking at the monthly performances since 1950, October sits in the middle of the pack. And since 1945 the December quarter is by far the strongest of the year. What happens in October will happen, but I'm not worried.

"While it's quiet on the home front, our market will continue to be driven by events overseas. Evergrande, Delta variant, interest rates rising and quantitative easing – they all point to [market] weakness along the way. But I don't see a major downturn or looming recession," Lister said.

"As far as Delta, case numbers are coming down in a big way globally, and we can think about re-opening again."

Skellerup Holdings was one of the day's better performers, rising 18c or 3.07 per cent to $6.04; PGG Wrightson was up 15c or 4.08 per cent to $3.83; Ebos Group increased 70c or 1.98 per cent to $36; a2 Milk gained 17c or 2.64 per cent to $6.60; Vector collected 13c 3.23 per cent to $4.15; and Chorus picked up 12.5c or 1.89 per cent to $6.725.

Marlin Global Fund rose 6c or 4.03 per cent to $1.55; Scott Technology increased 10c or 3.51 per cent to $2.95; South Port New Zealand gained 15c to $9.35; Tourism Holdings picked up 6c or 2.32 per cent to $2.65; and NZME was up 3c or 3.09 per cent to $1.

Move Logistics rose 5c or 3.23 per cent to $1.60, a day after Lorraine Witten was named the new chair to replace Trevor Janes, who is retiring.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 28c to $31.72; Fletcher Building shed 5c to $7.13; Mainfreight declined $1 to $95.90; DGL Group fell 23c or 7.23 per cent to $2.95; and Sky Network Television lost 5c or 2.55 per cent to $1.91.

Seeka declined 10c or 1.92 per cent to $5.10; Arvida shed 4c or 1.91 per cent to $5.10; Pacific Edge decreased 3c or 1.96 per cent to $1.50; and Gentrack was down 5c or 2.7 per cent to $1.80.

The major banks had sharp falls after strong gains the day before, ANZ Banking Group down 64c or 2.18 per cent to $28.69, and Westpac Banking Corporation decreasing 58c or 2.14 per cent to $26.58.

The Warehouse Group slipped 2c to $4.10 after telling the market two of its key managers were leaving the company. Chief digital officer Michelle Anderson is joining an overseas retailer at the end of the year, and chief of staff Nicholas Falconer is leaving at the end of this month. Restaurant Brands closed lower at $15.52.

Kiwi Property is buying the high-profile, 7144 sq m City Impact Church site overlooking the Southern Motorway and near the Sylvia Park shopping centre for $27.5m, with settlement next June. Kiwi's share price was unchanged at $1.155.

Medicinal cannabis firm Cannasouth raised $4.7m of its planned $6m and at this stage will not be proceeding with the acquisition of the outstanding 50 per cent in joint venture partner Cannasouth Cultivation. Cannasouth's share price was also unchanged at 40c.