NZ shares ease after strong rise

File photo

The New Zealand sharemarket eased slightly today on the back of hefty losses for several stocks and broader concerns about the upgraded disaster at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant.

The NZX-50 index closed down 9.98 points, 0.3 per cent, at 3451.34, having gained 16 points yesterday on the back of a strong rise in the price of Fletcher Building shares.

Today, Fletcher Building hit a three-year high of 953 before plunging during the session to close down 14c at 938.

Electricity and gas distributor Vector also slid, after the company expressed dissatisfaction with a Commerce Commission proposal related to regulated pricing for monopoly network owners.

Vector closed down 7c, or 2.9 per cent, at 239, adding to yesterday's 11c loss.

The commission's proposal overturned the basis which most lines companies and market participants had been using to estimate the impact of the new regulatory regime for a considerable period of time, Vector said.

Other blue chips were mixed. Contact Energy rose 3c to 576, Telecom lost 1.5c to 198, casino company Sky City rose 3c to 347 and Sky TV was down 4c at 570.

Infrastructure investor Infratil was flat at 185, while its energy asset TrustPower rose 10c to 740.

Port of Tauranga closed down 12c at 838, retailer The Warehouse lost 5c to 340, Mainfreight fell 3c to 927 and seafood exporter Sanford was down 5c at 550.

On the rise was Freightway, up 3c at 331, Restaurant Brands, 3c higher at 252, and Hallenstein Glasson, up 5c at 375.

Japan's nuclear plant operators Tepco upgraded the seriousness of radiation leaks out of the Fukushima nuclear plant, badly damaged by last month's earthquake and tsunami, to the highest possible and on a par with Chernobyl.

Some currencies, including the New Zealand dollar, and equity markets softened amid the worsening situation as investors sold out of investments considered riskier in favour of safe havens.

Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 1.4 per cent at 4900.60, while Tokyo's Nikkei share average was down 1.7 per cent.

Earlier in the United States, stocks mostly fell as energy shares sold off on lower oil prices, and the onset of earnings season was clouded by concern that company outlooks may fall short of expectations.

Worries that increased raw material costs and the effects from Japan's earthquake may affect coming quarters would put companies' forward-looking statements under increased scrutiny.

- NZPA