The New Zealand sharemarket took a hit today, along with offshore markets, from plans to regulate US banks.But investors applauded a profit upgrade from Nuplex and the stock rose 5%.The benchmark NZX-50 index closed down 34.86 points, or 1.1%, at 3190.429
The New Zealand sharemarket took a hit today, along with offshore markets, from plans to regulate US banks.
But investors applauded a profit upgrade from Nuplex and the stock rose 5%.
The benchmark NZX-50 index closed down 34.86 points, or 1.1%, at 3190.429. Turnover was worth $90.31 million. There were 21 rises and 53 falls among the 113 stocks traded.
Markets in Asia were weak on both the news of plans to regulate US banks and the idea that the Chinese market may have peaked as China moves to tighten monetary policy.
"The markets have been jittery all year," said James Lee, head of equities at First NZ Capital. Many markets were down for the year and trading has been volatile. "Obama hasn't helped," he said.
Nuplex was a standout performer in the weak market. Its price traded as high as $3.30 and closed up 15c at $3.20 after the resin maker issued a profit upgrade after the market closed yesterday.
"They've now had three strong upgrades in the space of three months," Mr Lee said. The company cut costs in response to a decline in demand.
"Operational leverage is now starting to come through."
Listed property trusts stabilised after being knocked by proposals from the Tax Working Group.
ING Property was unchanged at 76c, Goodman Property rose 1c to $1.01 and Kiwi Income Property Trust was unchanged, also at $1.01.
Pike River Coal eased 4c to $1.01 after releasing a report that confirmed its first coal export shipment would be in February.
Telecom eased 3c to $2.41, Fletcher Building eased 18c to 797 and Contact Energy eased 16c to 600.
Westpac fell 41 to 3180 and ANZ fell $1 to $28.50, reflecting weakness in financial stocks.
Mainfreight eased 10c to $5.55 while Freightways eased 1c to $3.36.
Restaurant Brands eased 1c to $1.76 and NZ Refining eased 12c to $3.90.
Port of Tauranga rose 7c to $7.10 and TrustPower rose 5c to $7.25.
Fisher & Paykel Appliances eased 3c to 6c while F&P Healthcare eased 3c to $3.32.
Losses spread across most sharemarkets in Asia today, after an overnight retreat in the US market, AP reported.
Mr Obama said he would seek to limit the size and complexity of large financial companies so their collapse wouldn't imperil the broader financial system and economy, leading to more bailouts at taxpayers' expense.
Wall Street was yanked lower by heavy selling in bank stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 213.27 points, or 2%, to 10,389.88, its biggest point and percentage drop since October 30.
The broader S&P 500 index fell 1.9% to 1116.48 and the Nasdaq composite index 1.1% to 2265.70.
