WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares fell for the fifth consecutive session as equity markets across Asia continued to slide. Xero, Westpac Banking Corp and Fletcher Building declined while Warehouse Group gained.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index dropped 55.29 points, or 0.9 percent, to 6,102.82, a three-week low. Within the index, 36 stocks fell, 12 rose and two were unchanged. Turnover was $82 million.
The NZX 50 rose 13 percent in the fourth quarter last year to hit an all-time high of 6,324.26 on Dec. 31, and has fallen 3.5 percent so far this year.
“We’ve held up very strongly compared to markets globally,” said Shane Solly, a director at Harbour Asset Management. “People are cautious, liquidity is quite low and we are still seeing very volatile global markets. New Zealand had a period of very strong performance; the New Zealand market was up 13 percent last quarter, and we’re coming off that.”
Xero led the index down, dropping 2.7 percent to $17.02. The volatile stock has shed 14 percent this year, and has been sold off by nervous investors during the global equities turmoil.
China has continued to fall, without hitting last week’s trade-halting lows. The Shanghai SE Composite Index fell 2.4 percent, having shed 12.1 percent this year, while the Shanghai and Shenzhen CSI 300 composite dropped 2.2 percent and has fallen 11.9 percent this year. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is down 2.7 percent, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 index is down 0.4 percent.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index has seen its worst ever start to the year, falling 1.8 percent today for its seventh straight fall. Westpac was down 2.4 percent to $32.18, Goodman Property Trust fell 2.4 percent to $1.24 and Sky Network Television declined 2.4 percent to $4.14.
Fletcher Building declined 2.3 percent to $6.86, with the stock having fallen 18 percent in the last 12 months. Building consents for new houses fell 0.3 percent in November, though consents for retirement village units doubled.
“The movement in approvals may not have been as strong as some people had expected,” Solly said. “Fletcher is a large, more liquid stock, and it’s got a portion of ownership by Australian institutional investors, so it does tend to get a little bit knocked around.”
Chorus dropped 2.3 percent to $3.81, and Steel & Tube Holdings fell 2.2 percent to $2.25. Metlifecare dipped 2 percent to $4.31.
Warehouse Group was the biggest gainer, jumping 5 percent to $2.73 in the last hour of trading after announcing its predicted first-half profit would be a 20 percent improvement on a year earlier. Warehouse’s profit for the six months to Jan. 31 is expected to reach $43 to $45 million. Half year results will be announced along with full-year profit forecast on March 11.
Meridian Energy rose 1.7 percent to $2.34 and Z Energy advanced 1.7 percent to $6.46. Z had rallied 4 percent $6.76 in the three trading days before Dec. 31 before dropping down to $6.36 on Friday, and is “probably finding a base,” Solly said.
Outside the benchmark index, IkeGPS Group jumped 14.3 percent to 80 cents, a one-month high. The laser measurement tool developer has raised $900,000 from three institutional investors to fund expansion in the US market, where it is considering a secondary listing.
The placement came after a foreign institution offered to invest $500,000 and two existing ikeGPS shareholders put up another $400,000, the Wellington-based company said in a statement.