Covid fears cast pall on sharemarket (again); Air NZ drops

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 155.05 points, or 1.2 percent, to 11,124.36. Within the index, 40 stocks declined, nine rose, and one was unchanged. Turnover was $184.7 million, of which Fisher & Paykel Healthcare accounted for $55.4 million.

Stock markets across Asia followed Wall Street lower as the growing number of new covid cases has investors on edge that the global economic pain will be longer than they had hoped, keeping a lid on company earnings.

Those concerns are becoming more acute domestically with the Australian state of Victoria recording 33 new cases today, its biggest increase in more than two months. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 2.2 percent in late trading.

“Increasing cases on the international scene have given rise to fears of an increase in lockdowns and future lockdowns, and that doesn’t help businesses one little bit,” said Grant Williamson, a director at Hamilton Hindin Greene.