20 Mar 2020

Coronavirus: NZ sharemarket open higher as Air NZ's share price slumps

10:14 am on 20 March 2020

New Zealand's sharemarket has opened modestly higher this morning after Wall Street rallied.

New Zealand's sharemarket has immediately fallen two percent after opening after the Waitangi Day closure. Global markets have been left reeling in the biggest one-day fall on Wall Street since 2011.

Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

The benchmark top 50 index was up just over 20 points in early trading, about a quarter of a percent.

However, Air New Zealand's share price slumped by 34 percent as it resumed trading after a four-day halt.

Earlier the government said it would give the airline a $900 million loan to counter the impact of Covid-19.

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