The sharemarket eased back on profit taking across the leaders yesterday after Monday's surge.
"There was a lot of aggressive offshore buying on Monday in Telecom, and the stock has had a startling run so a bit of profit taking came in there," Credit Suisse First Boston's David Price said.
"It was
no real surprise we are back as much as we are."
The NZSE-40 capital index was down 1.19 per cent, or 26.96 points, shedding all of Monday's gains to finish at 2234.43.
Smaller stocks were flat with the NZSE-SCI capital index up just 1.59 points at 4566.47.
Overall, falls outnumbered rises 52 to 38 among the 138 stocks traded. Total market turnover was worth $115.90 million, with the Telecom listings accounting for $50 million.
Sky City had a strong run, gaining 24c to 720c after its result this week. Also, Brierley Investments' announcement that it would sell its majority stake via instalment receipts had been well received locally and offshore, Mr Price said.
Among the leaders, Air New Zealand eased 1c to 277c, Carter Holt Harvey lost 3c to 191c, Fletcher Building dropped 12c to 298c, Forests fell 2c to 87c and Paper lost 4c to 140c.
Lion Nathanwas down 5c to 490c, Natural Gas Holdings dropped 3c to 172c, and Telecom head shares fell 26c to 954c while the instalments lost 25c to 535c.
Among leaders to make ground were Sky TV, up 5c to 340c, AMP, up 37c to $23.42, and Telstra, which firmed 5c to $10.20.
Auckland Airport rose 1c to 280c.
Nuplex and Waste Management, due to report soon, both made ground. Nuplex rose 15c to 335c and Waste Management added 35c to 805c.
Among recent reporters, Reid Farmers lost 6c to 50c, Corporate Investments shed 2c to 83c and Designer Textiles was up 2c to 42c.
Pacific Retail was steady at 150. Auckland entrepreneur Eric Watson's Logan Corporation has extended its 130c bid until March 5. Pacific Retail's committee of directors said it still did not know if Mr Watson would accept an offer at 160c by Australia's Foodland Associated via Farmers Deka. - NZPA
