The New Zealand sharemarket eased today after a pull back in major stock indices in the United States and ahead of the Fletcher Building result tomorrow morning.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 25.501 points, or 0.828 per cent, at 3055.473. Turnover was worth $83.19 million. There were 30 risesand 54 falls among the 114 stocks traded. Investors were taking profits from the market rally, said Stephen Wright at ASB Securities.
They were also waiting for the profit results. There has been publicity about lower earnings for companies like Fletcher Building and Contact Energy but brokers continue to argue the focus will be on what companies say about current and future trading.
Fletcher Building fell 16c to 702 on top of a 14c fall yesterday, while Contact Energy was down 15c to 634. Contact reports on Friday. Top stock Telecom slipped 3c to 272.
Nuplex continued to feature among the risers. It was up 5c to 212, having gained 7c yesterday.
"Nuplex is maintaining its momentum," Mr Wright said.
NZ Refining Co lifted 5c to 695 and NZX gained 5c to 790.
The Warehouse rose 4c to 405. Hallenstein Glassons rose 7c to 285 and Infratil rose 2c to 185.
Michael Hill rose 2c to 70 and Freightways rose 7c to 335 ahead of its result on Monday.
Dual-listed Westpac rose 45c to 2875, while ANZ eased 10c to 2415.
Auckland Airport eased 2c to 173 and Fisher and Paykel Healthcare eased 7c to 328.
Also falling were Tower down 1c to 179, Mainfreight 3c to 495, Hellaby 5c to 117, Port of Tauranga 15c to 660 and Lion Nathan 25c to 1450.
In the US, stocks fell as investors booked profits following a four-week rally that took the broad S&P 500 index to a 10-month high on Friday.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 32.12 points, or 0.34 per cent, to close at 9337.95. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 3.38 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 1,007.10. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 8.01 points, or 0.40 per cent, to 1992.24.
