KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket shed 1 per cent today, as it fell victim to profit-taking and reacted to an easing in Australian banking stocks.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 38.8 points at 3605.7, on turnover valued at $87.1 million, after closing up slightly yesterday and most of last week.
ABM Amro Craigs investment advisor Nigel Scott said it was an interesting day and followed "some substantial" gains recently.
"Confidence in New Zealand's economy continues to ease. A little bit of reaction to the confidence survey out this morning," he said.
Business confidence declined significantly in the NZ Institute of Economic Research's March quarter business survey, and companies' plans to increase prices will keep pressure on the Reserve Bank to stave off inflation with high interest rates.
Top stock Telecom fell 15c, or 3.7 per cent, to 391 ahead of its annual analyst day in Sydney on Thursday.
Elsewhere on the top-10, Fletcher Building was down 18c at 842, Contact Energy fell 2c to 857, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 5c at 305, and F&P Appliances fell 1c to 236.
Sky City was down 8c at 401 and Sky TV lost 10c to 475, while Infratil was up 3c at 217 and Auckland Airport (AIA) gained 3c to 228.
AIA is awaiting a decision from two government ministers this week on whether to allow the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's conditional purchase of 40 per cent of AIA shares.
Lines company Vector was up 6.6 per cent, or 12c, at 195 on news of Chinese interest in its Wellington network and "possible pricing tension" in that process, Mr Scott said. Since leaving the top-10 index at the end of March, Vector has risen substantially.
Mainfreight lost 5c to 629, Pumpkin Patch shed 9c to 183, Guinness Peat Group fell 2c to 170, and Air New Zealand was down 2c at 138.
On the rise, Hallenstein Glasson was up 11c at 410, Rakon jumped 15c to 330, Port of Tauranga gained 10c to 640, and NZX was up 10c at 760.
Dual-listed stocks were generally weaker, with ANZ down 33c at 2550, Westpac off 83c at 2755, Lion Nathan down 29c at 1067, and AMP flat at 980.
Australia's benchmark index was down 0.9 per cent at 5573, and Japan's Nikkei share average lost 1.6 per cent.
Earlier, US stocks began the week little changed as rising oil prices stoked fears that corporate profits will suffer, overshadowing optimism about the easing of the credit crisis.
- NZPA