NZ stocks: Market closes lower after 'flattish' session on good volume

The New Zealand sharemarket finished lower today in a session that saw some stocks show their sensitivity to events in the wider market place.

At 5pm, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 9.10 points at 2631.15, while the NZSX-All capital index was down 2.33 points at 890.68.

Market heavyweight Telecom was up 1c at 566, its $91.4 million turnover representing 60 per cent of the $152.07 million worth of shares that changed hands on NZX today.

Among the 152 stocks traded today were 35 rises and 73 falls.

Macquarie Equities investment director Arthur Lim said today's session had been "flattish" despite good turnover.

Sky City Entertainment today said it was raising its stake in Hamilton's Riverside Casion to 70 per cent, its shares closing down 4c at 440.

It would buy a 15 per cent cornerstone held by Tainui Group Holdings for $10.5 million plus accrued convertible note interest.

Mr Lim said Sky City was clearly on an "acquiring and mopping up" bent, but its share price dip was not directly linked to the Riverside announcement.

"It is an interest rate sensitive stock," Mr Lim said, noting the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) yesterday lifted its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 5.50 per cent.

RBNZ governor Alan Bollard also signalled that further rate rises were on the cards this year.

Meanwhile, two top three stocks to shed value today were Contact Energy, down 11c at 580, and Carter Holt Harvey, down 2c at 210.

"Carter Holt Harvey is a commodity stock at the end of the day... and (its decline today) does reflect that the gloss is going off the resource sector," Mr Lim said.

In other market news, Tower New Zealand has formally integrated its managed funds and asset management businesses into a single investment business. Its shares were up 2c at 171.

Sharemarket operator NZX confirmed it was considering establishing its own in-house registry business, its shares were down 2c at 918.

Mr Lim said, overall, the market had performed "creditably" today as many offshore bourses had lost ground overnight.

Shares on the move today included: AMP down 7c at 670, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare down 15c at 1300, NGC Holdings down 6c at 254, The Warehouse down 8c at 436, Baycorp Advantage down 6c at 305, Michael Hill International down 20c at 577, and Lion Nathan up 7c at 717.

Overseas, the Dow Jones dipped 0.56 of a point to 10,342.04, the Standard & Poor's 500 slipped 2.21 points to 1120.20, and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 16.68 points to 1972.86.

Britain's FTSE 100 index closed five points down at 4519.5.

- NZPA