An Israeli counter-attack on Iran sent sharemarkets into further turmoil, with New Zealand and its defensive stocks faring the best in terms of falls.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index reached a lunchtime high of 11,823.12 points
but slumped on the news of a strike on a military airbase in central Iran.

The index was again saved by the now familiar rise in the end-of-day matching session and closed at 11,796.21, down 39.83 points or 0.34 per cent – its fourth fall this week.

The index was down 1.13 per cent for the week and is now 0.27 per cent ahead for the year.

There were 95 decliners and 45 gainers over the whole market on volumes of 37.33 million share transactions worth $173.62 million. Market leader Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, up 6c to $26.60, dominated the trading with $35.23m worth of shares changing hands.

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said it’s been a wild ride this week with geopolitics and the Middle East tension returning to the forefront.

The markets were already softer on the realisation interest rate cuts will come later than expected, he said. “US Federal Reserve officials have said they are in no hurry to reduce rates and this has driven investor demand to safe-haven assets such as bonds.”

Solly said markets have been anxious about the Middle East situation for the past six weeks and anxious about interest rate levels for the last three months.

Gold has reached a high of US$2382.61 an ounce, while the US 10 Year Treasury Note yield has gone above 4.5 per cent.

Around the Asian-Pacific region, the Australian S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 1.06 per cent to 7561.4 points at 5.45pm NZ time and had fallen 2.9 per cent for the week.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index had declined 1.44 per cent to 16,1509.14 points and the Japanese Nikkei 225 had fallen 2.36 per cent to 37,170.17.

At home, Auckland International Airport and Chorus hit five-and-a-half month lows.

“They are both impacted by regulatory reviews at present,” Solly said. The airport was down 14c or 1.75 per cent to $7.85 (it was at $7.86 on November 6), and Chorus declined 14c or 1.9 per cent to $7.24 ($7.39 on November 2).

Fletcher Building was down 6c to $3.86; Infratil declined 12c to $10.81; Manawa Energy eased 8c to $4.56; Comvita declined 5c or 2.38 per cent to $2.05; Air New Zealand decreased 1.5c or 2.56 per cent to 57c; and Gentrack shed 20c or 2.38 per cent to $8.19 after coming off its high of $8.90, set on March 28.

In the banking sector, ANZ shed 86c or 2.73 per cent to $30.64; Westpac declined 98c or 3.44 per cent to $27.50; and Heartland Group was down 3c or 2.83 per cent to $1.03.

Among retailers, Michael Hill fell 5c or 6.94 per cent to 67c and KMD Brands decreased 2c or 3.64 per cent to 53c. Investore, which owns bulk retail buildings, declined 3c or 2.63 per cent to $1.11.

Scott Technology was down 6c or 2.07 per cent to $2.84; T&G Global eased 4c or 2.21 per cent to $1.77; Move Logistics shed 1.5c or 3.19 per cent to 45.5c; Foley Wines declined 3c or 3.19 per cent to 91c; and Green Cross Health decreased 2c or 1.92 per cent to $1.02.

Napier Port increased 6c or 2.62 per cent to $2.35; Allied Farmers rose 6c or 8.57 per cent to 76c; Sky TV gained 9c or 3.27per cent to $2.84; Millennium & Copthorne Hotels NZ added 4c or 2.21 per cent to $1.85; AFT Pharmaceuticals improved 8c or 2.61 per cent to $3.14; and NZ Rural Land was up 2c or 2.17 per cent to 94c.

Channel Infrastructure, unchanged at $1.51, reported terminal throughput of 921 million litres of fuel in the March quarter, 13 per cent higher than the same period last year, driven by increased demand for aviation fuel, up 38 per cent.

Decommissioning of the Marsden Point oil refinery has been completed and the conversion costs to an import fuel terminal remain within the $220m budget.

Seeka was down 3c to $2.87 after launching its grower loyalty scheme by issuing a total of 2.4m shares. The scheme was approved at this week’s annual meeting.