The New Zealand sharemarket closed down yesterday after Fletcher Energy took a heavy hit following a 25 per cent fall in the share price of its American interest Capstone Turbine in the United States overnight.
The NZSE-40 Capital Index closed down 10.39 points, or 0.53 per cent, at 1962.24, while the
small companies NZSE-SCI Capital Index eased just 0.86 of a point to 5030.63.
Total turnover of 30.80 million shares was valued at $91.98 million.
ABN Amro equities dealer Nigel Scott said the market had a "pretty good" performance in relation to overseas markets. Fletcher Energy, down 30c at 830, suffered because of the Capstone fall, he said.
"For every dollar drop in Capstone it's worth 5c on the Energy price.
"If you take out Fletcher Energy's drop and Telecom losing 4c, I think the market has performed pretty well. Global markets were pretty ordinary."
Market driver Telecom lost 4c to 586, taking its lead from a 5.5 per cent drop in the tech-rich Nasdaq overnight.
Tranz Rail, which on Wednesday made a widely expected after-market announcement of a loss for the first quarter, was down 10c at 350c.
Fishing company Sanford on Wednesday posted a full-year after-tax profit of $54.59 million, up 1.3 per cent on the year before, but warned that fuel prices could impact "significantly" in the second half of next year when a hedge contract on fuel for the freezer vessel fleet expires.
Its share price closed up 10c to 468.
Fletcher Forests closed up 1c at 34 and Building lost 3c to 195, while Carter Holt Harvey gained 1c to 160 on big volume.
AMP was up 18c at $22.75, and Auckland Airport added 5c to 297.
Of the falls, Advantage lost 11c to 175, ANZ eased 4c to $18.56 after its strong result, Air New Zealand A shares were down 2c at 172, The Warehouse dropped 5c to 605 and Baycorp slipped 27c to $11.83.
- NZPA
