The New Zealand sharemarket drifted lower today after receiving mixed signals from offshore and as investors wait for Telecom to report earnings on Friday.The benchmark NZX-50 index closed down 11.54 points, or 0.4%, at 3093.451, after starting the day in
The New Zealand sharemarket drifted lower today after receiving mixed signals from offshore and as investors wait for Telecom to report earnings on Friday.
The benchmark NZX-50 index closed down 11.54 points, or 0.4%, at 3093.451, after starting the day in positive territory. The market fell 1.4% on Friday.
Turnover was worth $80.9 million. There were 22 rises and 48 falls among the 107 stocks traded.
Wall Street had sent mixed signals on Friday, erasing early weakness to end slightly ahead, while the Australian market was firm.
There was little corporate news to trade on today but the focus is turning to Steel&Tube's result on Thursday and Telecom's second quarter result on Friday.
Peter Sigley at Goldman Sach's JBWere said investors were interested in how the mobile phone market was performing for Telecom and also in the impact of the recent XT network failure.
Steel & Tube is also an important result as the company reflects economic activity generally.
Investors are also expecting Prime Minister John Key's opening statement to Parliament tomorrow to provide guidance on economic policy, particularly on tax.
Telecom fell 1c to $2.30 while Steel & Tube fell 4c to $2.76.
Contact Energy rose 2c to $5.83 and Fletcher Building fell 2c to $7.50. Hallenstein Glasson rose 9c to $3.64 and SkyTV rose 3c to $4.80.
NZOG rose 1c to $1.46, The Warehouse rose 3c to $3.78, Cavalier Carpets eased 1c to $2.77 and Michael Hill fell 2c to 66c.
SkyCity rose 2c to $3.24 and Fisher & Paykel Appliances rose 1c to 60c.
NZ Refining fell 15c to $3.66 after reporting operating margins for November and December. Port of Tauranga fell 7c to 705.
Infratil eased a cent to 161 and Air NZ eased 2c to $1.28. ING Medical Property Trust eased 2c to $1.16.
AMP eased 2c to $7.73 after saying it will consider its position in relation to AXA Asia Pacific.
In the US on Friday, stocks erased a midday drop to end slightly higher, closing out a volatile week punctuated by mixed signals from the labour market data and growing anxiety over fiscal problems in Europe.
Major indexes turned positive heading into the close, as investors scooped up shares in the technology and materials sectors – two of the worst performers during the market's latest pullback.
For the week, the DowJones Industrial Average fell 0.6%, the S&P 500 slid 0.7% and the Nasdaq lost 0.3%, marking their fourth consecutive weekly drop.
