NS stocks: Nuplex sale highlight as shares trade lower

12.00 pm

The sale of 16 per cent of chemicals company Nuplex was the main highlight on a soggy sharemarket this morning.

The sharp drop in business confidence here and a further fall in consumer confidence in the United States ensured the tone would be weak.

The NZSE-40 index was down 3.41 points to 1937.46 in the first hour.

Of the $660 million worth of turnover, $50 million was in Nuplex.

US institution Shamrock sold its 16 per cent stake at $2.64/share, 41 cents below yesterday's close. Broker JB Were then on-sold the stake for $2.70/share to other institutions and retail investors. Afterwards, Nuplex was trading 25c below yesterday's close at $2.80.

US stocks slumped across the board as the biggest plunge in consumer confidence in more than seven years raised fears of cutbacks in spending by the economy's driving force.

The Dow fell 1.6 per cent, down 150 points to 9119 while the Nasdaq fell 1.9 per cent, down 32 points to 1667.

Investors were spooked by the latest economic data showing fading consumer confidence in October in the wake of last month's deadly attacks. This could undermine consumer spending, which drives two-thirds of activity in an economy that many economists believe is already in recession.

Adding to the gloom, US Attorney General John Ashcroft late on Monday warned that militants may be plotting new attacks in the United States and abroad in the next week.

Air New Zealand As and Bs were both up 1c to 30 cents after the company announced it had lost a further $439.3 million including an operating loss of $52 million in the September quarter.

Telecom was down 1c to 444, The Warehouse was flat at 640 and Fisher & Paykel was down 10c to 1435.

Sky City was up 34c to 1264 after saying yesterday it expected the split of its shares to have a positive effect on the casino operator's share price. The company used its annual meeting to announce the two-for-one share split, effective after November 16.

Discount retailer The Warehouse Group said in its annual report it is targeting the $700 million-a-year small to medium sized business office supplies market with a new stationery venture.

Natural Gas Corp, which yesterday said it expected to return to profit, was up 1c at 128.

Westpac, which reports its profit this week, saw its New Zealand class shares fall 18c to 1600.

Fletcher Building fell 3c to 262 and Carter Holt Harvey fell 1c to 142.

- NZPA