NZ shares fall as China growth slows

New Zealand's main share index dipped on Friday after data showed China's economy shrunk in the second quarter of the year, hampered by widespread covid lockdowns.

Friday, July 15th 2022, 6:08PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 65.36 points, or 0.6%, to 11,122.61. Turnover was $107 million.

Covid lockdowns in China appear to have reversed its economic growth. Data released today showed the world’s second-largest economy contracted 2.6% from the previous quarter.

SPI Asset Management’s Stephen Innes said it was “a big miss” relative to the 1.5% decline economists had been expecting.

“China's 5.5% 2022 GDP target now looks impossible to achieve, and we concur with the China experts forecasting 4% instead,” he said in a note.

The weaker growth will heighten fears of a global recession but could force central banks to reassess the pace of monetary policy tightening.

NZ stocks were weaker today, with exporter Skellerup Holdings leading the benchmark index lower. It fell 3.3% to $5.05.

Today, BNZ Research warned the NZ dollar could fall below 60 US cents.

Strategist Jason Wong said trading could occur as low as UD57 cents as the global economy gets weakened by China’s zero-covid policy and the prospect of Russia using its European gas supply as a weapon.

The kiwi was trading at 61.33 US cents at 3pm in Wellington, up a little from 61.13 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index was at 70.40, from 70.03 yesterday.

Fruit exporter Scales Corp fell 2.3% to 2.4%, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare declined 1.9% to $20.60, and Synlait Milk dropped 1.2% to $3.39.

A2 Milk, which primarily sells its products in China, was down 0.8% at $4.97.

Retirement village operators Ryman Healthcare and Summerset Group both fell approximately 2.5% to $8.78 and $9.99, respectively.

Local logistics company Freightways had the day’s biggest gain, climbing 2.2% to $9.90, followed by Port of Tauranga which gained 2.1% to $6.70.

Michael Hill International rose 4.2% to $1.24 after it reported positive quarterly sales growth with all store sales up 17% in the second quarter.

Managing director Daniel Bracken said he was delighted with the full-year trading result which saw all store sales up 7.3% and record digital sales exceeding $40m.

“As we leverage our transformation strategy to accelerate growth, all markets and channels achieved strong same-store sales and sustained margin expansion,” he said.

Tags: Market Close