New Zealand shares slipped on Monday to mark their lowest level since June 2020, the decline in line with global markets, as red-hot US inflation data fuelled investor worries about more aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
The benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index lost 1.9% to finish the day at 11136.3, extending losses for a third straight session.
Trading was thin as about 19.3 million shares changed hands, compared with the 30-day average of 32.2 million shares. Markets in Australia were closed for a public holiday.
The US consumer price index increased by a bigger-than-expected 8.6% last month, the largest year-on-year increase since December 1981, Labor Department figures showed on Friday.
Globally, investor sentiment was further dented after a COVID-19 warning from Beijing spurred concerns of more growth-strangling lockdowns only a short time after the city relaxed curbs to quell an outbreak from April.
Among individual stocks, motorhomes manufacturer Tourism Holdings gave up 3.4% to log its second session of losses, while mining company Chatham Rock Phosphate added 5.1% to be among the top gainers in New Zealand’s benchmark index.
Shares of Comvita, a company that manufactures and markets honey and other health products, skidded 0.6% to slip for a third straight day.
Australian shares rise as miners, energy stocks boost
Still, the company forecast double-digit growth in net profit after tax for the full year.
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