NZ stocks: Market falls, led by Telecom and Contact

12.00pm

The New Zealand sharemarket fell in early trade with top stocks Telecom and Contact Energy leading the way down.

At 11.35am, the benchmark NZSX-50 was down 10.46 points at 2789.29, shying from its recent string of gains and heady performance yesterday.

The NZSX-All capital index was down 3.59 points at 930.50.

Trade on NZX by 11.35am totalled $47.81 million, and among the 113 stocks traded were 28 rises and 37 falls.

Telecom was down 4c at 586 on turnover of $20.6m, while Contact gave up 4c to 596 on turnover of $491,137.

Clothing retailer Hallenstein Glasson rose 3c to 358, after yesterday posting a record August year net profit of $17.16m.

The stock gained 20c yesterday.

Investors continued to be upbeat about fishing company Sanford, its shares up 5c at 455 after it confirmed yesterday it was buying most of the assets of Auckland-based Simunovich Fisheries.

Sanford also said it had bought a 25 per cent stake in a seafood processing company in China. Its shares rose 17c yesterday.

There was some consolidation in Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which shed 7c to 1468. The firm's shares have turned in a strong performance this month, gaining 15c yesterday.

Other shares on the move included: Lion Nathan down 10c at 760, F&P Appliances down 5c at 410, Hellaby down 4c at 590, NZ Oil & Gas up 6c at 80, Promina up 12c at 485, and Tower down 3c at 212.

- NZPA