MARKET CLOSE: NZ shares join global selloff; Xero, Orion, ANZ decline

New Zealand shares fell after the long weekend, catching up on a global selloff amid concerns global growth may be faltering. Xero and Orion Health Group were among decliners, while Coats Group rose.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 82.5 points, or 1.3 percent, to 6071.31. Within the index, 41 stocks fell, five were unchanged and four rose. Turnover was $178 million.

The local bourse had negative leads from offshore, with Wall Street closing lower last night and Asian markets mainly declining today. The S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 2.9 percent at 5:30 local time, while the Nikkei 225 Index dropped 5.2 percent and the Chinese large-cap CSI 300 Index down 0.7 percent.

"Obviously we've had a little bit of catching up to do with Monday being a public holiday," said Grant Williamson, director at Hamilton Hindin Greene. "We opened up this morning with some quiet selling, but that has accelerated this afternoon as Australia has lost some pretty reasonable ground. Although we're still outperforming most other markets, we certainly are under a bit of selling pressure this afternoon."

Xero fell 7.1 percent to $15.10, a four-month low, while fellow tech stock Orion Health Group shed 5 percent to $2.85. High tech stocks always come under pressure when we've got this sort of volatility in the marketplace, Williamson said.

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group dropped 5 percent to $24.44 and Westpac Banking Group fell 4 percent to $30.93. Both stocks are dual-listed on the ASX, and were hit hard with Australia continuing the theme seen on Wall Street, where financials led the slide, Williamson said.

Skellerup Holdings dropped 3.5 percent to $1.39, Sky Network Television shed $3.30 to $4.40, and Kathmandu Holdings fell 3.2 percent to $1.51.

Fletcher Building fell 3 percent to $6.88, NZX dropped 2.9 percent to $1.02, and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare dropped 2.7 percent to $8.45.

Coats Group gained the most today, rising 1 percent to 48.5 cents. The UK-based threadmaker, which grew out of diversified investor Guinness Peat Group, plans to quit the ASX and NZX this June in a bid to cut down on the costs of multiple listings, with Australasian investors making up less than a fifth of its ownership.

Trustpower gained 0.7 percent to $7.65, and Steel & Tube Holdings rose 0.5 percent to $2.13.

NZAX-listed shell company RIS Group was unchanged at 0.4 of a cent. An independent adviser's report has given the thumbs up to a proposed backdoor listing of a company owned by Wellington property developers and brothel owners John and Michael Chow despite existing shareholders of RIS Group being heavily diluted and debt increasing substantially.

RIS Group has agreed to accept a conditional offer from trusts associated with the Chows which would see it buy the shares in the brother's 16 Park Avenue company, a South Auckland provider of long and short-stay accommodation, for about $7.5 million. The purchase price will be met through RIS issuing new shares at 39 cents per share to the vendors who will own more than 90 per cent of the company after the reverse takeover.

(BusinessDesk)