The New Zealand sharemarket fell away today from an 18-month high reached yesterday, with market heavyweights Fletcher Building and Contact Energy both retreating from multi-month peaks.The benchmark NZX-50 index closed down 17.311 points, or 0.5%, at 330
The New Zealand sharemarket fell away today from an 18-month high reached yesterday, with market heavyweights Fletcher Building and Contact Energy both retreating from multi-month peaks.
The benchmark NZX-50 index closed down 17.311 points, or 0.5%, at 3307.765. Turnover was worth $89.35 million. There were 41 rises and 32 falls among the 108 stocks traded.
"Market sentiment is a bit weaker from offshore today," said Adrian Vance, director at Hamilton Hindin Greene.
Asian markets traded lower for the first time in six sessions as investors took profits and after Wall Street finished lower.
In New Zealand, Telecom eased 2c to $2.22 on a day in which the company's XT network experienced further problems.
"There's a lot of negative news already in Telecom's share price," Mr Vance said.
Fletcher Building fell 13c to $8.37, reversing most of the 8c gain it made yesterday when it reached a three-month high. Contact Energy fell 7c to $6.43, having risen 7c yesterday to a seven-month high.
Pike River Coal rose 10c to $1.09.
"There's been quite a lot of activity in the resource sector in Australia, particularly in coal stocks," Mr Vance said.
Infratil rose 1c to $1.76, while NZ Refining Co fell 9c to $3.85 and Air NZ rose 3c to $1.42.
Restaurant Brands lifted 3c to $2.13. The company yesterday reported a full-year net profit, excluding non-trading items, up 70% to $19.9 million.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose 2c to $3.34 and Ebos Group gained 5c to $6.55.
NZ Windfarms rose 2c to 23c after resolving a dispute with its turbine supplier. Sealegs rose 1c to 19c.
Smartpay fell 0.2c to 4c, Pacific Edge Biotechnology eased 1c to 21c and Scott Technology fell 4c to $1.26.
Abano Healthcare rose 18c to $5.50 and OceanaGold rose 5c to $3.50.
