NZ sharemarket opens little changed
The New Zealand sharemarket opened little changed after a rally on Wall Street ran out of steam and as investors waited for key economic data locally.
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The New Zealand sharemarket opened little changed after a rally on Wall Street ran out of steam and as investors waited for key economic data locally.
The benchmark NZX-50 index was down 1.12 points at 3363.58 in early trading after it closed up 16.86 points yesterday.
Fletcher Building fell 2c to 876, Contact Energy eased a cent to 575, and Telecom was unchanged at 199.
Skellerup rose 2c to 135, Goodman Property rose 1c to 93 and Air NZ rose 1c to 112. Vector rose 1c to 247.
Mainfreight eased a cent to 869, Auckland Airport was unchanged at 214.5, and Infratil eased a cent to 192.
US stocks edged lower on Tuesday following three days of gains, but the recent rally has investors feeling less edgy about crises in Japan and Libya, and should help keep losses in check.
Perry Piazza, director of investment strategy at Contango Capital Advisors in San Francisco, said that in the near term, the S&P may trade below its 50-day moving average at 1304, which has been acting as a resistance level.
"The combination of Japan getting better and some progress in Libya has been enough to get people interested again," he said. "That said, there's still a lot of uncertainty and high commodity prices that are starting to dent confidence."
The Dow Jones industrial average shed 17.90 points, or 0.15 percent, to 12,018.63. The Standard&Poor's 500 Index slipped 4.61 points, or 0.36 percent, to 1293.77. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 8.22 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2683.87.
NZPA
Wed, 23 Mar 2011
Wed, 23 Mar 2011
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NZ sharemarket opens little changed
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