'A dip but not disastrous' as NZ sharemarket responds to Wall Street's meltdown

February 7, 2018

The NZX had a delayed reaction to the US fall with the market closed on Waitangi Day.

The NZX closed this evening down just over half a per cent, and brokers described it as a dip but not disastrous following yesterday's meltdown on Wall Street.

1 NEWS was on the trading floor as markets opened this morning and quickly dropped two per cent. 

The waves from Wall Street were felt around the world yesterday, but it was a delayed reaction today on the New Zealand stock market which was closed yesterday for Waitangi Day.

"While we were shut you saw falls of anywhere between three and five or six per cent across a lot of the other big markets. So for us to open, play a bit of catch up, but only be down two per cent that's not bad, we'll take that," said mark Mark Lister of Craigs Investment Partners.

International markets have been readjusting after the Dow dropped dramatically. 

"This morning we've seen a bit of calm emerge in the markets across Asia and the New Zealand market not performing too badly considering how things have been in recent days," Mr Lister said. 

The situation has been volatile for the last few days because better than expected wage growth in the US caught investors by surprise.

Traders had been worried growth would be higher than anticipated, with fears that could lead the Federal Reserve - America's version of the Reserve Bank - to raise interest rates faster than expected, enticing investors away from the stockmarket. 

"We expected a correction in the equity market, which we've seen," said Nigel Brunel, OMF financial markets director.

Of course this affects Kiwis who own shares, but it also matters for anyone who has Kiwisaver or a retirement saving scheme, because these often invest in the stock markets. 

Experts say don't panic. 

"If you look at Kiwisaver, for example, which really is a long term game, they shouldn't be concerned if it falls over a short period of time in the market," Mr Brunel said.

The Finance Minister, Grant Robertson, says New Zealand has rebounded because the economy is in good shape. 

"The economy has that stability in it which means that we've been able to avoid the worst of this," he said. 

In the US, markets rebounded after a rollercoaster day. 

"Even after all of this sell-off that we've seen in recent days, in just the last year stocks are still over the full year, up about 20 per cent," said Rebecca Jarvis, ABC economic correspondent. 

Back in New Zealand it's hoped the volatility has calmed for now. 

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