New Zealand shares fell on the first day of the month in a muted trading session after institutional investors staked out positions yesterday. Contact Energy and Summerset Group Holdings declined.
The S&P/NZX50 Index dropped 58.14 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 8,383.87. Within the index, 34 stocks fell, eight rose, and eight were unchanged. Turnover was $96 million.
The benchmark index gave up some of yesterday's gains when it jumped 1.7 per cent on turnover of more than $200m. That month-end positioning by large investors coincided with Xero's final day of trading on NZX to become solely listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
"It was the end of the month as well, and that's often when you get the big portfolio trades which influence outcomes over a day, settling positions for the end of a period or whatever," said Greg Easton, investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners.
"Today's so quiet, and that probably does reflect that a lot of that positioning was completed yesterday."