KEY POINTS:
A disappointing result from market leader Telecom helped push the sharemarket down nearly 0.7 per cent today, despite firmer markets elsewhere.
The NZSX-50 benchmark index ended the week down 23.8 points at 3612.4, on turnover totalling $146.1 million.
Investors had become a little more reassured, and were showing
some interest compared with the start of the year, said Don Lewthwaite of First NZ Capital.
"Still expecting volatility, but hoping for improvement is perhaps the best way to put it," he said.
Telecom shares slid to a 14-and-a-half year low of 391 after the company reported a 12.6 per cent fall in interim net profit, on continued declines in calling and mobile revenue.
Adjusting for the sale of Yellow Pages, earnings from continuing operations for the half year were down 2.7 per cent at $397m.
Telecom ended the session down 15c, or 3.7 per cent, at 395.
"Telecom's result towards the low end of expectations, but not drastically so," Mr Lewthwaite said.
"In this volatile market it didn't take much for the price to sell off, but I wouldn't read too much into it. I didn't think the result was that disappointing it should be sold off that much."
Among other blue chips, Fletcher Building was down a cent at 952, Contact Energy rose 2c to 779, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 10c at 285, F&P Appliances was down a cent at 294.
Auckland International Airport fell 5c to 261, Sky City lost 2c to 418, Sky TV gained a cent to 505, and Vector was up 2c at 204.
Air New Zealand lost 4c to 173, Freightways was down 11c to 319, Rakon lost 3c to 332, The Warehouse was down 3c at 577 and Tower fell 2c to 209.
On the rise, Mainfreight was up 5c at 580, Guinness Peat Group rose 4c to 143, Hallenstein Glasson gained 11c to 391, Hellaby Holdings rose 9c to 220, Steel & Tube gained 10c to 390, and NZX gained 6c to 781.
Port of Tauranga rose 20c, or 3 per cent, to 640 after news that major container shipping line CMA CGM is dumping its Nemo service from Ports of Auckland in favour of its Tauranga rival.
Dual-listed stocks were stronger, reflecting a 0.8 per cent rise in Australia's benchmark index. ANZ rose 49c to 2899, Westpac rose 27c to 2837, AMP gained 15c to 925, APN News & Media rose 11c to 586, and Lion Nathan was up 5c at 1060.
The market's negative tone was despite a reasonable session on Wall Street that saw US stocks rise 0.4 per cent. However, Britain's FTSE 100 dived 2.6 per cent despite the Bank of England cutting rates to extend its losses for the week to 5 per cent on concern about company earnings.
- NZPA