NZ stocks: Shares fall back on light volume

The New Zealand sharemarket fell on light volume after a broad sell-off in United States stocks.

Brokers said the negative international backdrop provided an opportunity for investors to take profits and others took to the sidelines.

Contact Energy was down 9c to 576 but finished unchanged at 585 and TrustPower lost 15c to 765.

A Commerce Commission report released yesterday found the four largest electricity generator-retailers - Contact, Genesis, Meridian and Mighty River Power - overcharged by $4 billion.

Later , Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee said power companies should not put up prices this winter.

TrustPower today said its chief executive of eight years, Keith Tempest, was planning to step down at the end of the year.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 15.767 points, or 0.568 per cent, at 2760.544, having fallen 24.8 points yesterday. Turnover was worth $70 million. There were 28 rises and 60 falls among the 120 stocks traded.

Fletcher Building was down 12c to 643 and Stephen Wright at ASB Securities said it was likely to be due to profit-taking.

Telecom rose 2c to 260 after Vodafone suggested a co-investment model for broadband.

Westpac, which is chasing a New Zealand customer who took off with its money, fell 40c to 2510, while Tower fell 1c to 164. Nuplex was unchanged at 46. NZX rose 5c to 830. Michael Hill rose 5c to 65 and Methven eased 1c to 124.

Briscoe rose 2c to 102 on the day of its annual meeting and Renaissance rose 1c to 34 as it also held an annual meeting.

SkyCity eased 2c to 288 and $12.3m worth of shares were traded.

NorthPort eased 16c to 189 and PGG Wrightson eased 1c to 135.

US stocks slid in a broad sell-off on Thursday as investors, concerned about the US budget deficit, exited dollar-denominated assets across the board.

Markets came under severe selling pressure after an outlook downgrade for the UK's AAA credit rating made investors wonder if the US was next.

The activity was unusual in that the sell-off in US stocks did not produce a flight to assets typically considered havens in a storm - notably the US dollar and the US government bond market. Instead, those markets also weakened for similar reasons.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 129.91 points, or 1.54 per cent, to 8292.13. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 15.14 points, or 1.68 per cent, to 888.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 32.59 points, or 1.89 per cent, to 1695.25.

- NZPA