Market close: shares fall with ASX as kiwi gains - Fletcher falls

New Zealand shares fell, tracking a slide in Australian stocks and as the kiwi dollar reached a 4.5-year high against the Australian dollar, hurting companies with businesses across the Tasman such as Fletcher Building.

The NZX 50 Index fell 7.498 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4450.756. Within the index, 20 stocks fell, 20 rose and 10 were unchanged. Turnover was $113 million.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index was down about 1.9 percent in afternoon trading after retail sales rose less than expected and figures showed Australia's services sector grew less than predicted.

The kiwi dollar climbed to 85.15 Australian cents, eroding the value of New Zealand companies' Australian sales when they are brought home.

Fletcher, which gets 43 percent of sales and 40 percent of earnings in Australia, fell 2.8 percent to $8.42. Among other companies with Australian revenue, outdoor equipment chain Kathmandu fell about 2 percent to $2.48 and jeweler Michael Hill International dropped 0.8 percent to $1.31.

"In Australia there's a lot of movement in the market, with the domestic economy being pretty close to recession and the resource sector facing headwinds," says Mark Warminger, portfolio manager at Milford Asset Management. By contrast, "our economy is doing with the Christchurch rebuild taking off and Auckland housing quite strong".

Among Australian companies that also trade on the NZX, AMP fell 2.4 percent to $4.93 and Westpac Banking Corp declined 1.5 percent to $32.70, while Australia & New Zealand Banking Group edged up 0.2 percent to $33.01.

Stock market operator NZX fell 1.5 percent to $1.30 after reporting that cash trading climbed 20 percent to $2.7 billion in June from the same month a year earlier, slowing from the pace of growth in May.

Kiwi Income Property Trust led property investors lower, falling 1.4 percent to $1.085. Property for Industry fell 1.1 percent to $1.365, Vital Healthcare Property Trust was down 0.7 percent to $1.38 and Goodman Property Trust slipped 0.5 percent to $1.025.

Guinness Peat Group led gainers, rising 3.3 percent to 47.5 cents. Xero, the cloud-based accounting firm, rose 2.1 percent to $16.75.

Auckland International Airport rose 0.3 percent to $2.93 after Malaysia Airlines said it would start daily flights on the Kuala Lumpur-to-Auckland route in the upcoming peak season.

Nuplex Industries rose 1.3 percent to $3.07 and Telecom gained 1.1 percent to $2.26.

(BusinessDesk)