KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand share market reversed early gains to close lower but brokers said volume was light ahead of the holiday weekend.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 11.669 points, or 0.42 per cent, at 2768.618 on turnover worth $87.82 million. There were 34 rises and 36 falls.
Hallenstein Glasson fell 3c to 220 after signalling a 40 per cent decline in interim profit after sales fell in December.
Barry Lindsay, research manager at First NZ Capital, said the company had already flagged it was going through difficult times so today's statement was really confirmation of that.
The company's shares had roughly halved in 12 months and fallen in excess of 60 per cent over two years.
Overall, the session was characterised by low turnover.
"Interest rates have been cut savagely and there is potential for more to come, and we have government taking this recession seriously and trying to do its best," Mr Lindsay said on the day a package to help small and medium sized businesses was released.
The larger listings struggled today. Fletcher Building was down 1c at 553, Contact Energy was down 4c at 684 and Telecom was down 3c at 264.
Telecom rose 16 per cent in January to outperform the market, which rose 2.2 per cent in the month.
"They left the index for dead," said Mr Lindsay. "Perhaps at 220 they were just too cheap but at 265 they are not seen as particularly cheap," he said.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 4c at 334 and Goodman Fielder was down 16c at 177.
Lion Nathan was down 5c at 1035 on a day in which it was reported that talks about a proposed Lion Nathan takeover of Coca-Cola Amatil were continuing between their majority shareholders.
The risers included New Zealand Refining, up 34c at 702, and Hellaby, up 5c at 120.
TrustPower rose 14c to 775 and NZOG rose 2c to 135.
Westpac rose 11c to 2090 and ANZ fell 55c to 1680. Also rising were Auckland Airport 3c to 188, Tower 3c to 175, Hellaby 5c to 120 and SkyTV 4c to 422.
US stocks rose on Tuesday as news of an alternative stimulus plan from Senate Republicans was received along with a surprise rise in December pending home sales.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 141.53 points, or 1.78 per cent, to 8078.36. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 13.07 points, or 1.58 per cent, to 838.51. The Nasdaq Composite Index shot up 21.87 points, or 1.46 per cent, to 1516.30.
- NZPA
