NZ stocks: Market down but not out after large falls offshore

12.00pm

New Zealand market leaders were moving in one direction today -- down -- after large falls in sharemarkets overseas.

Japan's Nikkei index tumbled 2 per cent to an 18-year low yesterday, followed by large falls on Wall Street.

However, New Zealand investors were not panicked, DF Mainland's Sam Macdonald said, despite a sell down in New Zealand stocks.

By mid-morning the NZSE-40 was down 18.68 points, or 0.90 per cent, at 2050.13 after opening down 15.05 points. The top-10 index was down 1.03 per cent at 911.70.

Turnover of 10.19 million stocks valued at $32.05 million was topped by Telecom's 2.74 million stocks worth $13.99 million.

"We're just giving back some of the gains from yesterday," Mr Macdonald said.

"Some stocks which have had a good run ... are just having a bit of a breather but there's no great cause for concern, I don't think.

"It's just a bit of a spook through our market."

Baycorp Advantage continued to slide after its poor profit result on Monday, which included A$309.1 million ($367.2 million) in one-off items.

"I'd say Baycorp's in for another rough day. People, particularly Australian investors, are not responding well at all to these write-offs. The market's been a bit ruthless and it will continue to be ruthless with that one," Mr Macdonald said.

Baycorp, which has lost 10 per cent of its value since Friday, was down 15c at 380.

Elsewhere on the market, Telecom was down 7c at 503, troubled Tranz Rail was down 19c at fresh lows of 135, Fletcher Building shed 2c to 285, Contact Energy was down 2c at 390, Carter Holt Harvey lost 3c to 177, and Fisher & Paykel Appliances was down 15c at 1015 while its sister stock Healthcare lost 10c to 965.

Infrastructure investor Infratil was down 2c at 192 after announcing yesterday it had sold 3.5 million shares in Port of Tauranga.

After issuing a profit warning today, shares in packaging company Vertex Group dropped to a new low of 145, down 39c, after being issued at 205 in July.

Vertex said that, as a result of a poor second quarter, it expected earnings before interest and tax for the six months to fall short of the $5.2 million prospectus forecast by 15 per cent.

Auckland International Airport was up 5c at 418, Rubicon was up 1c at 74 and Wilson Kettle gained 4c to 380 on light volume.

There were 60 falls and 10 rises on the 104 stocks traded.

On Wall St, the broad market suffered its worst decline in nearly a year after weak US manufacturing data whipped up fears a tepid economic rebound will crimp corporate profits.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index chalked up its biggest one-day percentage drop -- down 4.15 per cent -- since the market reopened after the September 11 attacks.

The Standard & Poor's index slumped 38.18 points, or 4.15 per cent, to 878.02; the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average sank 355.45 points, or 4.1 per cent, to 8308.05; and the technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index surrendered 51.01 points, or 3.88 per cent, to 1263.84.

- NZPA