Market close: NZ shares fall as wild ride continues

The index finished a tumultuous shortened week down 3.26 per cent. Photo / NZME

The New Zealand sharemarket joined the wild rollercoaster ride with a fall of more than 1 per cent as analysts and investors wondered whether an economic recession was fast approaching.

After another volatile day on Wall Street, the S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 134.32 points or 1.2 per cent to 11,065.71 – though it had a late recovery after reaching an intraday low of 10,974.83.

The index finished a tumultuous shortened week down 3.26 per cent and it has fallen nearly 15.5 per cent so far this year.

There were 92 decliners and 48 gainers on the main board, with 59.98 million shares worth $229.17 million changing hands following end-of-quarter rebalancing.

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said some people were pointing the current situation to the 2002 tech wreck, the 2008 global financial crisis and the Asian currency crisis.

"There may be some elements there, but it's not like those events. It's different and the liquidity in the markets is pretty good.

"We have seen a brutal correction with a period of violent trading. The dysfunction in the capital markets has been triggered by the UK activity," Solly said.

"There's a lot of analyst scrutiny taking place at the moment into companies whose balance sheets may be stretched to deal with tough times. Most of the large New Zealand companies are in pretty good financial order."

Solly said when KiwiSavers open their latest quarterly statement it wouldn't look crisp and they would have to focus on the timeframe for their savings – whether it's three, four or five years and longer.

In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.54 per cent to 29,225.61 points; S&P 500 declined 2.11 per cent to 3640.47; and Nasdaq Composite fell 2.84 per cent to 10,737.51.

At home, leading stocks were again hit. Fisher and Paykel Healthcare reached a new low, falling 70c or 3.65 per cent to $18.50; Auckland International Airport was down 29c or 3.87 per cent to $7.20; Ebos Group declined $1.23 or 3.17 per cent to $37.61; and Spark decreased 10.5c or 2.06 per cent to $5.

Mainfreight fell $1.50c or 2.18 per cent to $67.40; Chorus was down 5.5c to $7.60; Infratil declined 16.5c or 1.87 per cent to $8.65; and Fletcher Building decreased 13c or 2.62 per cent to $4.84.

Among the energy companies, Contact was down 7c to $7.48; Meridian declined 5c to $4.80; and Vector lost 11c or 2.65 per cent to $4.04.

There was a recovery in the hard-hit property sector. Stride rose 9c or 5.7 per cent to $1.67; Goodman Trust was up 4c or 2.04 per cent to $2; Argosy increased 2.5c or 2.13 per cent to $1.20; and Precinct gained 3c or 2.36 per cent to $1.30.

Freightways, down 5c to $9.80, has completed the A$160m ($181.69m) purchase of Allied Express Transport, one of Australia's largest independently-owned courier and express freight operators.

Hallenstein Glasson gained 21c or 4.21 per cent to $5.20 after reporting a 23 per cent fall in net profit to $25.6m on steady revenue of $351.21m for the 12 months ending August 1. The revenue was underpinned by a 17.43 per cent increase in sales at the Australian Glassons stores. The New Zealand stores sales were down 12.96 per cent.

Hallenstein is paying a final dividend of 24c a share on December 16. Group sales have improved 68.49 per cent in the first eight weeks of the 2023 financial year – though the previous corresponding period was marked by store closures because of Covid-19 lockdowns.

Other retailers Briscoe Group declined 6c to $5.29, and The Warehouse was down 8c or 2.52 per cent to $3.09.

SkyCity decreased 5c or 1.81 per cent to $2.71; Delegat Group declined 20c or 1.92 per cent to $10.20; Move Logistics was down 4c or 3.36 per cent to $1.15; and My Food Bag fell 3c or 4.69 per cent to 61c, nearing its low of 59c.

Steel & Tube, which held its annual meeting, was up 4c or 2.99 per cent to $1.38 after telling the market revenue increased 15 per cent in the 34 days of mid-July to mid-August while volumes remained at the same level as last year. Fellow steel distributor Vulcan was down 25c or 3.14 per cent to $7.71.

Among the few gainers, Summerset Group rose 28c or 2.67 per cent to $10.78; Restaurant Brands added 16c or 2.13 per cent to $7.66; Heartland Group increased 3c or 1.84 per cent to $1.66; NZME was up 3c or 2.61 per cent to $1.18; Ventia Services recovered 4c to $2.90; and Bremworth gained 2.5 c or 5.05 per cent to 52c.