MARKET CLOSE: NZ shares dip; banks suffer as ANZ expands bad debt provisions

Thu, 24 Mar 2016

By Sophie Boot March 24 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand shares fell, led by Australia & New Zealand Banking Group and Westpac Banking Corp after ANZ announced it was increasing its bad debt provisions. The S&P/NZX 50 Index shed 6.3 points, or 0.1 percent, to 6,662.54. Within the index, 27 stocks fell, 15 rose and eight were unchanged. Turnover was $138.3 million. ANZ was the worst performer, dropping 7 percent to $26.74. The dual-listed Australian bank said it would increase its provisions for bad debt by at least A$100 million, on top o...

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