NZ shares slide on recession risk

New Zealand shares edged lower with investors unable to shake growing concerns the global economy is headed towards a recession.

Tuesday, May 17th 2022, 7:59PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 20 points, or 0.2%, to 11,137.88. Turnover was $131 million.

ASB economist Chris Tennent-Brown said investors have been becoming more and more risk averse as recession predictions, both at home and abroad, have grown.

Tennent-Brown said several factors are threatening to give the global economy a knock.

These include expectations of aggressive central bank tightening, heightened concerns about an energy crisis in Europe, and rapidly slowing activity in China all combined to knock back global growth and equity market sentiment.

“Concerns about high inflation, central bank action, along with the war in Ukraine, continue to weigh on the global growth outlook and rattle financial markets,” Tennent-Brown said.

Riskier stocks led the local market lower on Tuesday. Pushpay Holdings fell 4% to $1.21, Eroad dropped 3.8% to $2.76, and Tourism Holdings was down 3.7% at $2.60.

Steel & Tube Holdings fell 5.5% to $1.37 after experiencing a bounce following it reporting strong earnings. Fletcher Building also fell 2.7% to $5.85.

My Food Bag dropped 2.5% to 78 ahead of its earnings result on Friday. Serko, which is reporting tomorrow morning, fell 2.1% to $4.70.

Forsyth Barr restarted its coverage of Air New Zealand now that its part in the capital raise is completed. The analysts gave the stock a 70-cent target price, but shares fell 2.1% to 68 cents today.

“Air NZ is now firmly in recovery mode, with passenger revenue accelerating from increasing capacity and strong demand,” they wrote in a note.

“We are wary of elevated oil prices, though recognise AIR is well positioned to compete in this environment with a modern fuel-efficient fleet.”

Shares in DGL Group continue to recover as the racist and sexist comments made by its chief executive faded from the headlines. Its shares rose 4.6% to $3.43 today.

Ryman Healthcare also bounced, after dropping 7% on exclusion from an index, and was up 4.4% at $9.04 today.

The NZ dollar climbed to 63.31 cents on Tuesday, up from 62.66 cents on Monday, but is still down almost 10% in the past six months.

ASB economist Nathaniel Keall said: “Woeful risk sentiment not only remained in vogue last week but deepened as the various anxieties plaguing markets intensified."

Tags: Market Close