NZ stocks: Market continues to drift lower

The New Zealand sharemarket continued to drift lower today with good volume in Fletcher Building shares again a feature.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 6.68 points, or 0.241 per cent, at 2761.505, on top of yesterday's 12.2-point fall. There were 25 rises and 46 falls among the 110 stocks traded.

Turnover was worth $91.43 million. Yesterday $41.53m worth of Fletcher Building shares traded. Today the figure was $24.96m. Fletcher Building rose 2c to 654.

"We've followed the trend of overseas markets overnight and in Australia and Asia today," said Stephen Wright at ASB Securities.

US and European stocks fell more than 2 per cent after US government data showed the US economy shed more jobs than expected in June, dampening the outlook for an economic turnaround.

The Labor Department said US employers cut 467,000 jobs in June, while the unemployment rate rose to 9.5 per cent.

The local sharemarket was expected to be quiet at the start of the new financial year and had proven to be so.

It was likely to continue to be subdued with the US July 4 holiday and the winter school holidays getting under way in this part of the world.

Mr Wright said Telecom had formed a stable base in recent times. It rose 3c to 269 today.

Infratil was unchanged at 171 after updating on a bidder's potential interest in its investment Energy Developments.

Sanford fell 19c to 520 on light volume, Nuplex fell 6c to 147 and SkyTV fell 11c to 405.

Also falling were NZX down 15c to 730, Freightways 4c to 286, Mainfreight 4c to 416, and Steel & Tube 7c to 280.

The Warehouse, which announced the appointment of James Ogden as a new independent director today, fell 1c to 377.

Hallenstein Glassons rose 5c to 255, Ebos rose 10c to 550 and Restaurant Brands rose 1c to 105.

Abano rose 5c to 500, Opus rose 5c to 119 and Scott Technology rose 4c to 94. Delegates fell 4c to 205 and NZ Windfarms fell 4c to 76.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 223.32 points, or 2.63 per cent, to 8280.74. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 26.91 points, or 2.91 per cent, to 896.42. The Nasdaq Composite Index sank 49.20 points, or 2.67 per cent, to 1796.52.

- NZPA