“New Zealand doesn’t have stocks with direct exposure to the Middle East conflict, and, on the local market, there was no feeling of panic – just a case for adjustment.
“Should the situation spiral out of control and there’s a wider war in the region, then that can be a worry. There are no ground forces invading Iran, and the air strikes and missiles will run out in a few days,” Goodson said.
“A destabilised Iran could start sinking oil tankers and blowing up infrastructure, but that seems unlikely, though not impossible. And it’s not clear whether parties will start negotiating with the United States.”
ASB senior economist Kim Mundy said, “When you don’t know what to expect, you can at the very least expect volatility in global financial markets.”
He said initial impacts for New Zealand would be contained to financial market moves, but “we are wary for what this may mean for the near-term outlook for inflation. It remains too early to make any concrete calls, but the risks are clearly skewed to the upside.”
At 6pm NZ time, the Brent Crude oil price increased 6.13% to US$77.34 (NZ$129.5) a barrel, creating an inflationary pressure.
The safe-haven gold was up 2.4% to US$5,357.97, and the NZ dollar was down slightly to US59.74c against the American greenback.
In the US, S&P 500 futures were down 1%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.2%.
Local stocks
At home, leading stocks Ebos Group was down 55c or 2.3% to $23.41; Mainfreight declined $1.35 or 2.1% to $63; and Westpac eased $1.09 or 2.15% to $49.63
Market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare finished the eventful day up 33c to $41.23 on trade worth $21.5m after reaching an intraday low of $39.782.
Tourism Holdings fell 26c or 9.56% to $2.46 over concerns that the tourist trade may be interrupted.
Fletcher Building was down 6c to $3.45, and Gentrack decreased 29c to $8.01.
Property for Industry, down 1.8c to $2.37, postponed an investor conference call and meetings about its proposed bond offer because of “the uncertain market conditions following the conflict escalation in the Middle East”.
Other decliners were Napier Port down 16c or 4.22% to $3.63; Vista Group falling 12c or 6.35% to $1.77; Serko decreasing 7c or 3.47% to $1.95; and global apple exporter Scales Corp shedding 16c or 2.54% to $6.15.
Oceania Healthcare was down 1.5c or 1.81% to 81.5c after telling the market it has sale agreements worth $50m in place for six small villages in Paeroa, Whitianga, Auckland, Tauranga and Wellington.
Oceania is also planning four more divestments for $40m during the 2026 financial year, and the money will be used to reduce debt. All sites have been sold at or around carrying book value.
Fellow retirement village operators Ryman Healthcare fell 9c or 3.61% to $2.40, and Summerset was down 34c or 3.19% to $10.32.
Amongst the gainers, Vulcan Steel increased 15c or 1.9% to $8.05; Millennium & Copthorne Hotels NZ gained 7c or 2.1% to $3.40; and Bremworth, under takeover offer, rose 9.5c or 14.18% to 76.5c.
Retailers Hallenstein Glasson was up 22c or 2.18% to $10.32, and Briscoe was down 20c or 4.18% to $4.58.
Kiwi Property, down 1.5c to 99c, said in an investor update that sales at its retail centres were up 0.8% in December and pedestrian counts increased 1.3%. For the final quarter last year, sales were up 2% compared with the previous corresponding period.
Synlait Milk, unchanged at 48c, has obtained waivers and extensions to its syndicated bank facilities ahead of receiving funds from the sale of the North Island Pokeno plant on April 1.
Manuka Resources gained 1.8c or 11.46% to 17.5c after announcing a US$30m senior secured term facility with US global resource fund Nebari Natural Resources Credit Fund.
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