It was a challenging end to the week on Wall Street, with the growth-heavy Nasdaq Composite index falling 4.2% on Friday, its biggest daily decline since April last year. The S&P 500 index in the US fell 2.6% for the week, breaking a nine-week winning streak. Shares in Europe, the UK and Japan were down more modestly.
The South Korean KOSPI index fell 5.5% on Friday, after more than tripling in the previous 12 months on the back of massive gains in memory stocks and AI exposures. That saw emerging market equities fall 2.0% over the week. The Australian ASX 200 fell 1.2% and the local NZX 50 slipped 0.6%, although both were closed during the Friday session in the US.
Gold was down 4.7% for the week and Bitcoin slumped 16.2%, while US interest rates pushed higher after a strong jobs report saw rate hike bets later this year increase. The risk-off tone saw the NZ dollar fall sharply, declining 3.2% against the US dollar and more than 2% against the British pound, euro and Japanese yen. This will have offset some of the equity market declines for local investors.
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Mark Lister
Investment Director
Market Insights enewsletter
Keep up to date with our fortnightly Market Insights enewsletter. Our research team provide timely and regular commentary and analysis on market developments, understanding investment jargon, and the impact of current events.