NZ shares fall as Turkey woes ripple through markets; blue chips include F&P, Fletcher drop

The S&P/NZX 50 index dropped 65.57 points, or 0.7 percent, to 8,945.04. Within the index, 33 stocks fell, 13 gained, and four were unchanged. Turnover was a smaller than usual $53.9 million.

Asian stock markets followed Wall Street lower after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose steel tariffs on Turkey, raising investors' fears about the Middle Eastern nation at a time when it's already grappling with high inflation. Emerging markets were hardest hit by the bout of risk aversion, and in Asia, Indonesia's Jakarta composite index down 3.3 percent posted the steepest decline in afternoon trading.

"Nervousness about growth is starting to gather a little bit offshore with the news out of Turkey and the issues it's facing - it's currency fell through the floor," said Grant Williamson, a director at Hamilton Hindin Greene in Christchurch. "We've had some flow-on effect to this market and investors are taking a little bit off the table."

Declines on the local market were widespread across growth-orientated stocks, defensive dividend plays and blue-chip companies. Synlait Milk led the market lower, down 3.3 percent to $10.45, followed by F&P Healthcare down 2.4 percent to $14.55, and Sky Network Television down 2.3 percent to $2.57. Dual-listed banks Westpac Banking Corp fell 2 percent $32.40 and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group declined 1.8 percent to $32.15.