NZX50 slides 0.9% in January as tech stocks falter, a2 Milk sinks

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index dropped 0.9% in its worst month since April as tech stocks Vista Group International and Gentrack were the hardest hit by the growing fears of early interest rate hikes by the Reserve Bank, while a2 Milk Co was knocked by a resurgent kiwi dollar.

Still, the benchmark capped off the soft month on a high, outperforming most of Asia as heavyweights Auckland International Airport, Infratil and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare buoyed the index while markets across the region fell as gold miners were sold off and tech stocks rattled by Microsoft’s disappointing earnings on Wall Street.

Retailers were broadly stronger on the day after ANZ’s latest consumer confidence survey showing households are increasingly thinking it’s a good time to buy big ticket items, with KMD Brands, Briscoe Group and Warehouse Group all on the green side of the ledger.

And Trade Window Holdings dropped to a four-month low after the cross-border software develop trimmed its outlook for revenue growth after some softness in the December quarter.