KEY POINTS:
New Zealand shares dipped 0.7 per cent today, losing ground as expected after weakness in markets offshore.
The NZSX-50 index was down 27.60 points to 4113.05, on turnover valued at $104 million.
"Obviously we were lower as expected, on moderate volume," Stephen Wright of ASB Securities.
Telecom was down 9c at 421, second-ranked Fletcher Building was off 10c at 1158, and Contact Energy was up a cent at 890.
Fisher & Paykel Appliances jumped 15c to 360 on news it was considering selling its finance business.
"The thing is with finance companies, in the past it's been wonderfully profitable but in the last year or so it's just been tougher," Mr Wright said.
"In the end, I guess it's a positive thing for them because really their money's to be made out of whiteware and innovation and R&D etc."
F&P Healthcare was down 5c at 325, Auckland Airport lost a cent to 304, Vector fell 6c to 230 as profit-takers moved in, and Sky TV fell 5c to 570.
Casino company Sky City lost 13c to 532, around the middle of its recent tight trading range, as the market awaits results of potential asset sales.
Goodman Property Trust fell 7c to 146, after it raised $229m through an institutional share placement at $1.43 per unit.
Other stocks to lose ground were Mainfreight, down 8c to 715, Rakon, down 2c at 520, Methven, down 3c to 244, and NZ Oil and Gas, 2c lower at 101.
NZX was up 6c at 956, Tower rose 3c to 208, The Warehouse gained 2c to 524, and Hallenstein Glasson was up 8c at 448.
Cavalier Corp was down a cent at 312 after the Commerce Commission cleared it and Norman Ellison Holdings to form a joint venture company that will acquire the carpet businesses of Norman Ellison and its subsidiaries.
Among dual-listed stocks, ANZ lost 117 to 3333, Westpac fell 70c to 3330, AMP was up 4c at 1204, and Lion Nathan rose 3c to 1078.
- NZPA