NZX ends quiet session lower: market highlights

The New Zealand sharemarket ended a quiet session lower ahead of a long holiday weekend.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed down 11.06 points, or 0.314 percent, at 3514.764, after opening flat.

"We are going into a long weekend with some crucial economic data due in the United States tonight. There is still stuff hanging over offshore markets and people are taking a wait and see approach," said James Lee, chief institutional dealer at First NZ Capital. He said Chinese data today was mixed.

He noted selling pressure in Telecom today, particularly from Australian institutions, and reasonable turnover in Guinness Peat Group shares ahead of its annual meeting next week.

Telecom fell 7c to 232.5. Fletcher Building rose 3c to 887 and Contact Energy rose 4c to 585.

NZX eased 8c to 245 even though turnover figures for May showed increased market turnover.

DNZ Property eased 2c to 130 while Argosy Property was unchanged at 83 on a day in which Argosy detailed the savings from its plans to internalise property management.

Mainfreight, which had been on a recorded breaking run, succumbed to profit-taking, easing 5c to 988.

OceanaGold eased 25c to 310. Hallenstein Glassons continued to be under pressure, falling 6c to 372.

Bathurst Resources eased a cent to 159 on a day it was announced it would be included in the S&P ASX200 index.

TrustPower rose 7c to 745 and Vector rose a cent to 255.

SkyCity eased 4c to 358, SkyTV eased 5c to 568 and Cavalier Carpets eased 4c to 384.

AMP eased 7c to 653 and AMP Office eased a cent to 84.

Scott Technology rose 5c to 160 and Ebos Group rose 14c to 720. Infratil rose 2c to 189 and Restaurant Brands rose 3c to 270.

In the United States, stocks ended a volatile trading day mostly flat as investors were reluctant to make bets a day before a critical labour market report that could magnify fears the US economy is slowing.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.3 percent to 12,248.55, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 0.1 percent to 1312.94, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.2 percent to close at 2773.31.