NZ shares fall from record as bond inversion triggers global sell-off

The S&P/NZX 50 Index dropped 31.68 points, or 0.3 percent, to 9,519.31. Within the index, 36 stocks fell, eight gained, and six were unchanged. Turnover was quieter than usual at $90.7 million.

Stocks across Asia followed Wall Street lower, with investors spooked when the yield on US 10-year Treasuries fell below its three-month counterpart, traditionally a signal of weak growth expectations. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 1.2 percent in afternoon trading, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1.8 percent and Singapore's Straits Times Index declined 1.5 percent.

The yield on New Zealand's 10-year government bonds fell to 1.935 percent from 2.008 on Friday.

New Zealand's defensive stocks, which offer investors stable dividend income, have been a beneficiary of the low interest rate environment. Some of those stocks, such as the electricity generator-retailers, came off the boil today. Meridian was down 1 percent at $4.04 on a volume of a million shares. Contact fell 0.6 percent to $6.56 with 1.9 million shares traded.