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Investors took flight today when iconic New Zealand manufacturer Fisher & Paykel Appliances said it was looking for a cornerstone investor and downgraded its profit forecast.
That was not the only bad news. Highly regarded courier company Freightways cut its interim dividend and share markets around the world were weak. There was also gloomy commentary from a meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 70.588 points, or 2.566 per cent, at 2680.186.
When investors went home on Friday Fisher & Paykel Appliances shares were trading at $1. The shares plunged to 58c today before recovering to close at 65c, down 35 per cent. They have fallen from $2.75 last May.
Fisher & Paykel Appliances said it expected its net profit to fall by as much as 54 per cent to between $25 million and $30 million.
Freightways fell 17c to 295 after cutting its dividend today.
Stuart Hardie, investment adviser at ABN Amro Craigs said, markets were weak on Friday.
"Everyone has looked again at the market and thought maybe we are not out of it yet," he said.
He said the F&P Appliances announcement was disappointing.
Tower lost 5c to 152, Sky TV shed 8c to 417 and Air New Zealand lost 4c to 90 amid reports it will face more competition from Jetstar.
The Warehouse shed 5c to 344 and SkyCity fell 12c to 281.
TrustPower was unchanged at 775.
Sanford went against the trend to rise 5c to 545.
Fletcher Building fell 21c to 563 and Telecom fell 14c to 249. Contact fell 11c to 644.
Lion Nathan rose 25c to 1100 and Guinness Peat Group rose 1c to 83.
Mainfreight eased 4c to 383 and small volume.
In the United States stocks ended lower Friday, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average to its lowest close since last November and leaving it with a weekly decline of 5.2 per cent.
The Dow fell 82.35, or 1.04 per cent, to 7850.41. It was the lowest close since November 20, when the blue-chip index settled at a five-and-a-half month low of 7552.29.
Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 8.35, or 1.00 per cent, to 826.84, and the Nasdaq composite index decreased 7.35, or 0.48 per cent, to 1534.36. The S&P 500 ended the week down 4.8 per cent, and the Nasdaq finished the week down 3.6 per cent.
US markets are closed on Monday for President's Day.
- NZPA
