NZ stocks: Auckland Airport suffers on controls proposal, market weakens

12.00pm

Auckland Airport quickly became a focal point after a long-awaited study about airport fees was released to a significantly weaker sharemarket this morning.

Just after 11am the NZSE-40 capital index dropped 18.46 points, almost 1 per cent, to 1975.23 on light turnover of $17.6 million.

New Zealand shares appeared to be following the fortunes of US and British markets. Overnight, Wall St's Dow Jones industrial index fell more than 3 per cent on continued US economic concern, and the FTSE 100 index tracked it to fall 1.9 per cent.

Auckland Airport initially tumbled 18c but clawed back some ground to 403, 13c down, after a Commerce Commission report recommended some form of control be placed on the airport's fees.

Singapore-based BIL was another high profile stock, losing a cent to 63 after dismissing reports it had sold its main asset, British hotel chain Thistle.

Market leader Telecom was back 6c to 473 on $4.9 million worth of shares, ahead of its full year result on Friday.

Topping the turnover by volume were Fletcher Forests preference and head shares, which were both down a cent to 22 on 2 million and 1.2 million shares respectively.

Guinness Peat Group, which announced yesterday it would use its Forests and Rubicon stakes to vote against Forests' Central North Island Forest deal, rose one cent to 165, while deal partner Rubicon fell a cent to 69.

Other stocks to move included Fisher & Paykel Appliances, down 15c to 880, Carter Holt Harvey down 3c to 179, Pacific Retail Group, down 9c to 276, and Wakefield Hospital, down 8c to 135.

On the upside, Briscoe Group gained 5c to 245, ingredients company Cedenco was up 6c to 181, and retailer Kirkcaldies was up 5c to 395.

So far there have been 14 rises and 46 falls on 95 stocks traded.

Offshore, Wall St's hopes for a turnaround dimmed Monday after another dose of disappointing economic news sent the Dow Jones industrials down more than 270 points.

The selling, which followed the latest disappointing economic report, came after 11 weeks of heavy selling and eroded much of early July's huge, but short-lived, rally. Analysts said that in the absence of any encouraging economic data, there was little reason for investors to do much buying. Doubts about the banking sector also pressured stocks.

The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index fell for the fourth-straight session, down 41.91 points, or 3.36 per cent, at 1,206.01. The index has erased a recent 115-point rally and carved out closing lows unseen since April, 1997.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 269.5 points, or 3.24 per cent, at 8,043.63. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 29.64 points, or 3.43 per cent, at 834.60.

- NZPA