6 May 2022

NZ share market opens more than 1 percent lower

11:16 am on 6 May 2022

The New Zealand stock exchange has opened down 123 points or 1.05 percent after Wall Street had its biggest one day fall since 2020.

NZX sign

File photo. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver

The fall in the local share market isn't as steep as the US, where a broad sell-off was led by technology stocks.

Shares in Air New Zealand, EBOS, The Warehouse and some technology stocks fell by more than 2 percent. Only three stock in the NZX Top 50 gained when it opened, and four were unchanged.

Investors around the world are being spooked by high inflation and rising interest rates, following the US Federal Reserve's decision to hike rates by 50-basis-points yesterday.

US stocks rallied strongly yesterday after the Fed's chair Jerome Powell signalled the central bank would not hike rates by 75 basis points. But sentiment soured this morning as concerns grew over whether inflation could be controlled without causing serious economic damage.

The Dow Jones fell by more than 1000 points, or 3.12 percent, its worst daily performance since October 2020.

Tech stocks led the sell-off, causing the tech-heavy Nasdaq to fall by 4.99 percent, its biggest one-day fall since June 2020 and its lowest finish since November that year.

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs