KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket continued to fall today after news of Telecom's plans revealed some changes to dividends and capital expenditure.
The NZSX-50 index was down 35.44 points, or 0.99 per cent, to 3540, falling for the third day after several days of healthy rises.
ABN Amro Craigs NZX advisor Anne Hare said the fall today was partly sparked by banking stocks and a dip in Telecom shares following the briefing in Sydney today.
Top-stock Telecom was down 6c to 374 after an announcement by chief executive Paul Reynolds which said the company was planning containment of near-term decline in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) to 4-6 per cent in the financial year to June 2009 and 0-2 per cent for the financial year to June 2010.
Sky City was down 11c to 387 ahead of an 11c dividend to be paid tomorrow. Fletcher Building was down 14c to 816 after paying out a 24c dividend today.
Also down were Pumpkin Patch 7c to 173, The Warehouse 4c to 575, Sky TV 4c to 476, Fisher & Paykel Health 6c to 287, Freightways 8c to 334 and Air NZ 2c to 135.
Restaurant Brands was up 5c to 85 after reporting a full year net profit, excluding non trading items, up 69 per cent to $11 million.
The "reasonably good improvement" in profit was largely lead by its KFC fast food restaurants, Ms Hare said.
Amongst the other rises Tower was up 1c to 199, Auckland Airport 6c to 235, Cavalier 3c to 260 and Lion Nathan 7c to 1066.
Across the Tasman, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 1.3 per cent to 5446.9 in mid-afternoon trading, dragged down falling banking stocks.
United States stocks fell on Wednesday after United Parcel Service Inc slashed its earnings forecast, and oil prices hit a record high above US$112 ($142) per barrel, darkening the outlook for corporate results.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 49.18 points, or 0.39 per cent, ending the day at 12,527.26.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 11.05 points, or 0.81 per cent, finishing at 1354.49. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 26.64 points, or 1.13 per cent, at 2322.12.
- NZPA
