KEY POINTS:
New Zealand shares were down today, in contrast to other markets which have bounced back from delayed reaction to ongoing credit concerns.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 5.77 points at 4135.43 on light turnover totalling $89.4 million. There were 33 rises and 72 falls.
"The market is
off only five points, so it's holding up quite well considering there's still quite some volatility in those offshore markets, some of those credit crunch concerns resurfacing particularly in the US banking scene," said Hamilton Hindin Greene partner Grant Williamson.
"On the local board, we've still got a few stocks under pressure."
Top stock Telecom reversed earlier weakness to close up 3c at 420, as bargain hunters made the most of lower prices after the telco's disappointing quarterly profit result on Friday. Telecom had also received bad publicity in having its internet service, Xtra, rated worst in a broadband user survey.
Among the other blue chips, Fletcher Building was down 4c at 1146, having lost 18c yesterday. The stock recovered from a two-and-a-half-month low of 1120 earlier in the session.
"That's been extremely weak in recent days' trading, and that seems to be due to the outlook for the building sector looking reasonably weak," Mr Williamson said.
Contact Energy was up 3c at 899, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 4c at 319, F&P Appliances lost 4c to 343, and Auckland Airport rose 2c to 291.
Takeover target Sky City was up another 3c to 550 after gaining 8c yesterday on no specific news.
"Speculators and arbitrage investors are still quite keen to accumulate the stock ahead of any announcement regarding M&A (merger and acquisition) activity," Mr Williamson said.
The Warehouse fell another 14c to 540 to add to yesterday's 11c loss, as investors apparently tried to second guess a court appeal by Foodstuffs and Woolworths to overturn a Commerce Commission ban on takeover bids for the Red Sheds.
Newcomer Opus International, which listed last week at 199, rose 6c to 210.
Rakon, hit yesterday with a 9c fall, dropped another 3c to 535 today. Air New Zealand fell 3c to 211, Vector was down 3c at a year low of 228, and NZX fell 16c to 940 despite reporting that total capital raised on the markets last month topped $1 billion.
Australia's benchmark index rose 0.7 per cent to 6625.4, and Japan's Nikkei average was virtually flat.
Earlier on Wall Street, US stocks pared losses to trade nearly flat, with the Dow briefly trading in positive territory as financial shares came off their worst levels of the session.
- NZPA