NZ stocks: Market closes lower, Infratil down

The New Zealand sharemarket closed lower but put in a better performance than some other markets as risk aversion resurfaced globally.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 13.041 points, or 0.467 per cent, at 2777.858. Turnover was worth $105 million. There were 38 rises and 41 falls among the 115 stocks traded.

The Australian market was down was 1 per cent as the New Zealand market closed.

Among the leaders Telecom fell 2c to 258, Contact Energy rose 1c to 600 and Fletcher Building rose 6c to 669.

Infrastructure investor Infratil fell 7c to 163 after reporting a full year loss after tax and minority interests of $191m, mainly due to non-cash write downs on assets.

"Name me any investment company that hasn't got writedowns," said Stephen Wright of ASB Securities.

He said overall the market achieved a pretty good result as other markets were down more.

"The falls are not right across the board. It is a mixed market," he said.

More profit results are expected for companies with March 31 balance dates.

Pike River Coal was unchanged at 103 and reported on progress in getting ventilation restored to its mine.

Mainfreight rose 2c to 477, Cavalier rose 1c to 179 and TrustPower rose 5c to 765. Xero eased 8c to 142 and Wakefield rose 9c to 900.

Air NZ rose 1c to 107 on a day it was reported that more senior staff have had their pay frozen.

Goodman Property Trust rose 5c to 162 and NZ Farming Systems Uruguay rose 3c to 50.

Port of Tauranga eased 7c to 585. SkyTV fell 5c to 425 and The Warehouse fell 2c to 367. Fisher & Paykel Appliances eased 1c to 61 and the healthcare stock fell 5c to 310.

After a strong performance last week following a market update which revalued its assets, Guinness Peat Group was unchanged at 80 but volume was high with 3.9m shares traded.

In the United States on Friday the market extended losses that had curtailed a spring rally.

Even though there was some positive data traders found little incentive to buy.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 62.68, or 0.8 per cent, to 8268.64. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 10.19, or 1.1 per cent, to 882.88, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 9.07, or 0.5 per cent, to 1680.14.

With the S&P 500 index up 30.5 per cent from the lows of two months ago, many traders are finding it a safer bet to cash in some of their gains.

- NZPA