NZ stocks: Market ends lower led by Telecom, Contact

6.30pm

New Zealand stocks were generally softer today with Contact Energy and Telecom leading the charge lower.

The NZSE-40 capital index closed down 3.37 points, or 0.17 per cent, at 1959.85, while the top-10 index was down 0.53 per cent at 883.03.

Moderate turnover of 23.01 million, valued at $68.76 million, was topped by Sky City's $18.76 million, followed by Telecom with $14.47 million worth of stocks changing hands.

The Reserve Bank left the benchmark Official Cash Rate unchanged as expected at 5.75 per cent this morning, although economists said the statement was more hawkish than anticipated.

Barry Lindsay, research manager at First NZ Securities, said the market was muted today, partly because of a modestly weaker Wall St.

Electricity generator Contact Energy continued its pattern of lower closes in the last few days, ahead of its annual result tomorrow.

Contact shares were trading at 395 a month ago, and closed today down 3c at 373.

The thermal and hydro power generator is generally expected to post a net profit around $100 million, down on last year's as a result of lower spot electricity prices.

However, one brokerage had predicted a profit below $100 million, and the market was perhaps bracing itself for the worst, Mr Lindsay said.

"Anything less than $100 million net profit would be seen to be quite disappointing and I guess it would eventually lead to further weakness in the price."

Market leader Telecom was down 4c at 496, continuing a week-long losing streak and returning to the low it hit after its profit warning earlier this month.

Auckland International Airport closed down 6c at 548, having gained more than 40c since November 7.

The Independent business weekly reported today that Spanish construction firm Ferrovial Aeropuertos has emerged as the front runner to buy the Auckland City Council's 25.7 per cent stake in Auckland Airport.

"I suspect it's just reacting to the very strong run in the last 10 days or so and just ran out of steam, rather than obviously reacting to that speculation about the Spanish company," Mr Lindsay said.

Transport company Mainfreight rose 4c to 107 after saying today it had more than doubled its first half net surplus to $2.5 million in the six months to September 30.

Elsewhere on the market, Air New Zealand was up 1c at 50, Tranz Rail was down 2c at 128, Carter Holt Harvey gained 1c to 170, Fletcher Building was down 1c at 324, Baycorp Advantage rose 7c to 225, Sky City gained 3c to 798 and Sky TV lost 12c to 337.

Plastics manufacturer Vertex was at a two-month high today of 130, up 7c, while Dunedin biotech company Botry-zen made its debut on the market at 14c. It raised $5 million last year at 10c per share before stepping up to the main board today.

Tourism Holdings continued its partial recovery following bullish comments made at its annual meeting last week, up 10c to 113, while Cavalier fell foul of profit takers, down 12c to 753.

There were 44 falls and 41 rises among the 130 stocks traded.

On Wall St, the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 11.79 points, or 0.14 per cent, at 8475.78; the broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 3.62 points, or 0.40 per cent, at 896.74; and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 19.18 points, or 1.38 per cent, at 1374.51.

- NZPA