Property stocks pull market lower

Global markets drove weak sentiment into New Zealand’s market for a second day this week, with property stocks dragging the local market down further due to high swap rates.

Wednesday, September 28th 2022, 5:57PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 94.2 points, or 0.85%, to 11,119.57. Turnover was $129.6 million.

Peter McIntyre, an investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners, said US market-driven sentiment, the threat of higher interest rates and the potential for recession had been the driving forces behind today’s market movements.

Putin escalating issues with Ukraine and concerns around global energy supply issues were also worrying investors, he added.

“The real estate property stocks have been the most affected today,” he told BusinessDesk.

“It's been primarily driven by swap rates rising significantly.”

Argosy Property was down 1.25% to $1.185, Goodman Property fell 3.18% to $1.98 and Kiwi Property Group dropped 3.8% to 88.5 cents. Vital Healthcare Property fell even further by 4.3% to $2.43.

However, Property for Industry was up 0.21% to $2.385, on the back of the news of its divestment of the firm’s property in New Plymouth for $4.9m.

The Warehouse fell 6.1% to $3.23 today after reporting its annual results and revealing annual profit had dropped 18% to $89.3m.

The retailer's margins felt the squeeze from covid-19 disruptions in the first half of the financial year but still managed to achieve its second-biggest year for sales, despite operating for almost a quarter with its Auckland stores closed.

McIntyre said export companies edged higher today on the back of the still-weakening NZ dollar, with healthcare manufacturer Fisher & Paykel Healthcare jumping into positive territory earlier in the day before falling just 0.05% to $18.90.

Rubber manufacturer Skellerup was up 0.9% to $5.54 and A2 Milk shares were flat at $6.10. Synlait Milk jumped up 4.75% to $3.53.

Agribusiness group Scales Corp was up 4.9% to $4.89 after falling 6.8% to $4.66 yesterday, on the news that it planned to expand its global pet food and edible proteins division in Australia with a A$27m investment (NZ$30.8m).

NZ King Salmon Investments reported its half-year earnings today, with the company recording a net loss after tax of $24.5m in its half-year earnings due to a lower harvest, sea farm mortalities and a decline in biomass at sea.

The aquaculture producer described the six months ended July 31 as a “challenging start” to the financial year.

McIntyre said it wasn’t a “pretty” result but said NZ King Salmon didn’t reveal any surprises to the market because everything had already been well-signalled.

The company’s shares were down 2.3% to 21.5 cents.

On the currency front, the NZ dollar was trading at 56.23 US cents at 3pm Wellington today, down from 56.87 cents on Friday.

Tags: Market Close