NZ stocks: Market unable to shake off Wall St blues

The New Zealand sharemarket had a quiet day today, retreating from recent highs to end in the red.

The benchmark NZSX-50 gross index was down 12.79 points or 0.58 per cent, at 2204.73 while the top-40 index was down 0.55 per cent at 2129.16.

There was also disappointment over the announcement today of the weighting allocated to New Zealand shares in the colossal New Zealand Super Fund.

Turnover of 29.79 million stocks valued at $75.12 million was topped by Telecom's $31.66 million.

Barry Lindsay of First NZ Capital said turnover was "pretty low", led by Telecom which closed down 5c at 517.

Among notable decliners was casino company Sky City, which closed down 19c at 913 after a good run-up this week,

Fletcher Building continued to gain on the back of its better than expected result yesterday, closing up almost 2 per cent or 7c at 428.

"There's a generally positive view taken of this stock, possibly by analysts on that result," Mr Lindsay said.

The Fisher & Paykel stars shone brighter today, with Healthcare up 2c at 1225 and Appliances up 15c at 1430.

Cinema company Sky City Leisure's convertable notes fell 4c to 160 and its head shares were unchanged at 115 after reporting a full year profit of $3.4 million, a turnaround from its loss last year of $20.127 million.

The company which is 50.2 per cent owned by casino operator Sky City was formerly Force Corp.

Among the smaller stocks, retirement village operator Metlifecare was up 10c at 130 after announcing a more than 50 per cent increase in half-year profit this week.

Contact Energy lost 9c to 489, Guinness Peat Group rose 4c to 165, Tower lost 2c to 118, Waste Management shed 10c to 380, Promina was down 2c at 271, Air New Zealand fell 1c to 49, and Carter Holt Harvey was down 2c at 164.

Among the retailers, Hallenstein Glasson fell 1c to 287, Briscoe Group lost 3c to 181, and The Warehouse was down 6c at 525.

Auckland International Airport continued to climb, up 6c today to 634, AMP gained 2c to 510, Infratil was up 1c at 228 and Sky TV rose 5c to 473.

There were 52 falls and 39 rises on the 145 stocks traded.

On Wall St, the Dow Jones industrial average declined 38.30 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 9271.76; the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 6.32 points to 984.03; and the Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 0.42 of a point to 1686.59.

- NZPA