Telecom leads market down

Shares in Telecom, the country's largest listed company, slipped on the New Zealand sharemarket after the company reported its annual result today.

Telecom fell 3c to 264 after reporting a 43.9 per cent fall in net profit for the year to the end of June to $398 million.

"They made guidance but there was nothing really to get excited about in the result," said Grant Williamson, director of Hamilton, Hindin, Greene.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 18.158 points, or 0.595 per cent, at 3034.949. Turnover was worth $120.45 million. There were 35 rises and 38 falls among the 112 stocks traded.

Mr Williamson said the market decline came after the Australian market fell. That fall was attributed to weakness in bank stocks after Westpac updated on impaired loans and after Australia's sovereign wealth fund, the Future Fund, sold A$2.4 ($2.97) billion worth of Telstra shares.

In New Zealand, Sky TV fell 3c to 460 after the company reported a 9.6 per cent fall in net profit for the year to June to $88.4m.

But Cavalier Carpets rose 10c to 250 on its profit report.

"It was a bit above guidance and the outlook is slightly positive. All in all, a very acceptable result," said Mr Williamson.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare rose 11c to 336 after maintaining its guidance for profits this year.

Contact rose 1c to 620 and Fletcher Building was unchanged at 774.

Air NZ fell 5c to 122 after its July operating statistic revealed a fall in long haul passenger numbers somewhat mitigated by capacity reductions.

AMP fell 22c to 723 and Infratil fell 5c to 172. Mainfreight fell 25c to 515 and Hellaby rose 7c to 130. NZ Refining recovered some of its recent loses on a disappointing result. It rose 14c to 520 today.

Port of Tauranga fell 9c to 641 and Ryman fell 4c to 185. NZ Farming Systems Uruguay rose 3c to 48.

Steel & Tube rose 10c to 320. Sanford rose 5c to 500.

TrustPower fell 10c to 740 and The Warehouse fell 2c to 408.

In the United States, stocks rose for a third straight session with financial stocks leading gains after US manufacturing data and a rebound in Chinese stocks reassured investors.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.8 per cent to end at 9350.05, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 1.1 per cent to 1007.37, and the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 1 per cent to close at 1989.22.

- NZPA