KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's sharemarket started out well on a firmer Wall St, but ended up negatively ahead of a possible interest rate cut in the US.
The NZX-50 benchmark index initially rose 0.6 per cent but closed down 7.15 points or 0.19 per cent, at 3,697.01 on turnover worth
$81 million.
Trading was in line with Australia which was down 0.2 per cent in late afternoon trading.
It was the second day in a row that New Zealand stocks had risen strongly in the morning, only to have gains eroded by a weak Australian market.
"We should have had a firmer day on the back of a good improvement on Wall St yesterday but that just hasn't eventuated," Grant Williamson, a director at Hamilton, Hindin, Greene, said.
He thought some investors had been "hopping out" ahead of a US GDP figure and Federal Reserve announcement regarding interest rates tonight.
If Wall St turned downward, all markets would come under pressure and profit-takers could swoop, he said.
Locally, leading stocks were mixed. Telecom was down 3c to 400, but Contact rose 3c to 758 and Fletcher Building eased 9c to 1006.
Contact had been climbing as a defensive stock and as worldwide debate about power shortages became louder, Mr Williamson said.
Fletcher Building had slipped as December data for new housing consents fell 5.2 per cent, reinforcing a declining trend.
Clothing retailer Postie Plus edged down a cent to 64 after announcing that it was reviewing the future of its struggling Arbuckles store and moving its Westport warehouse operation to Christchurch, affecting 33 jobs.
"I think the market was expecting some disappointment there and that's what they ended up with," Mr Williamson said.
Another apparel stock, Hallenstein Glasson, rose 2c to 362 after appointing a new Australian-based chief executive Shayne Quanchi, filling a gap left open for several months.
Apple computer reseller Renaissance was flat at 58 after news Apple would be selling directly to some large retailers.
Other moves included Auckland Airport up 4c to 275 on a strong $10 million turnover, Sky City up 9c to 436, and Air NZ, up 2c to 184. Hellaby fell 15c to 208, as did The Warehouse to 555 on thin trade.
A large line of 1.2 million shares in Fisher & Paykel Appliances help the share price down 4c to 287.
Rises narrowly outnumbered falls 51 to 47 on 133 stocks traded.
In Australia, early gains evaporated after a disappointing second-quarter sales growth figure from Woolworths and concerns about the finance sector there.
In the US, the Dow Jones industrial average closed unofficially up 96.41 points, or 0.78 per cent, to 12,480.30. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 8.27 points, or 0.61 per cent, at 1362.24 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 8.15 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 2358.06.
- NZPA