NZ market little changed, Fletcher Building falls

The New Zealand sharemarket is continuing to move sideways, losing a few points today on low volume.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 5.867 points, or 0.185 per cent at 3161.54. It has gained just 17 points since last Friday. Turnover was worth $69.6 million.

"Volume is low today after a very high volume day yesterday, mainly due to turnover in Auckland Airport yesterday," said Ross Cuthbert, investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners.

The quiet day came after investors in the US paused to assess the rally in that market after the Dow Jones industrial average reached a 13-month high.

Fletcher Building, which held its annual meeting in Dunedin today, fell 9c to 795. The company said annual earnings were likely to be at the lower end of a range expected by analysts.

"They gave a pretty cautious outlook statement," said Mr Cuthbert.

Auckland Airport was unchanged at 187 after Infratil yesterday sold its investment in the airport at 184 per share. Infratil shares rose 3c at 156.

"It's positive Infratil is going up. It has had a week or so of declines with the market wondering if a capital raising might be needed if they buy assets from Shell," Mr Cuthbert said.

Rakon fell 2c to 117 ahead of its interim profit report tomorrow.

Windflow Technology was unchanged at 120 after trading in its shares resumed today on filing of its annual report to NZX yesterday.

Kiwi Income Property Trust fell 1c to 101. The company is raising $125m in a sale of mandatory convertible notes.

OceanaGold rose 10c to 180 after upgrading the reserves at its Macraes mine in Otago yesterday.

Telecom rose 5c to 254 and Contact Energy fell 1c to 616.

Retailer The Warehouse lost 5c to 425, and Ebos Group rose 1c to 600.

Sanford gained 5c to 505, and Steel & Tube fell 11c to 310.

TrustPower fell 2c to 751 and NZ Refining fell 1c to 534.

Mainfreight fell 5c to 545 and Port of Tauranga fell 13c to 697. Tourism Holdings was unchanged at 71 as was SkyCity at 337.

Methven fell 11c to 155 and GPG fell 1c to 82.

In the US, stocks closed little changed in light volume as differing views on whether the market can build on recent gains stalled the S&P 500's six-day winning streak.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 0.2 per cent to end unofficially at 10,246.97, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index edged down 0.01 per cent to finish unofficially at 1093.01, and the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.1 per cent to close unofficially at 2151.08.

- NZPA