ASX hits new record as NZ sharemarket falls

After a mixed day on Wall Street, the S&P/NZX 50 Index fell sharply at the opening and never recovered, closing at 11,872.1 – down 42.3 points or 0.36%.

The intraday low was 11,832.81 points. There were 55 gainers and 71 decliners over the whole market on volumes of 30.82 million share transactions worth $128.17m.

Auckland International Airport, down 1.5c to $8.435, was again heavily traded, with $25.4m worth of its shares changing hands. Australia’s inflation has fallen to a two-year low of 4.1% as food and fuel prices increased at a slower pace.

The market had expected annual inflation of 4.3%. NZ’s is 4.7%. The consumer price index for the three months ending increased 0.6% or half the pace of the September quarter, and economists had predicted 0.8%.