Spark dropped 2 per cent to $3.64, Contact Energy fell 1.2 per cent to $5.77 and Trade Me dipped 1.1 per cent to $4.32.
Fletcher Building propped up the index, rising 2.6 per cent to $7.18. The stock has fallen 34 per cent this year.
CBL Corp gained 2 per cent to $3.01, having traded as high as 5 per cent during the session.
"There was a big line of stock through two or three days ago, and that's been overhanging the market. Now that's been cleared, so we're seeing a bit of a pop in the share price," Stent said. "It has been particularly weak for a while. The other news is that the CFO is resigning - he's there another six months - not that his resignation is the reason they're up 5 per cent, but it's another item of news flow."
Outside the benchmark index, Colonial Motor Co rose 0.3 per cent to $7.64. The motor vehicle distributor, which listed on the NZ stock exchange in 1962, is cautious about forecasting in the year ahead despite its strong returns in 2017 and continued demand for new vehicles.
At its 99th annual meeting in Wellington yesterday, chair Jim Gibbons said it was difficult to give accurate forecasts from month to month, let alone six months ahead, but he noted the first quarter to September 30 had improved on last year and produced an excellent result.