NZ market dips slightly on quiet day

The New Zealand sharemarket weakened today but rallied from its lows during a fairly quiet session.

Markets around Asia kept an eye on Chinese economic data today but it did not seem to be a big factor for the New Zealand market.

China's economy surged 8.9 per cent in the third quarter, reinforcing optimism that Asia is on a sustainable recovery path.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 16.525 points, or 0.513 per cent, at 3201.696. Turnover was worth $82.94 million. There were 40 rises and 40 falls among the 117 stocks traded.

After the market closed Pyne Gould Corp announced it had raised $30 million in a placement with institutions at 43c a share. The shares were halted today and will resume trading tomorrow. They last traded at 46c. The placement followed a successful rights issue to raise $237m.

"It was another quiet day in general. We opened down as a result of overseas leads and have recovered some of that," said Stephen Wright at ASB securities.

The market was likely to be subdued tomorrow going into a long holiday weekend.

About 158,266 Cue Energy shares traded today and the price in New Zealand reflects the price in Australia. The stock returned to the New Zealand market this week.

NZ Refining was a star performer, rising 15c to 540.

Among the leaders Telecom fell 6c to 249 and Fletcher Building fell 8c to 832.

SkyCity fell 2c to 344 and $18.68m worth of the company's shares traded today.

A number of companies held annual meetings today, including Contact Energy, Port of Tauranga, AMP NZ Office Trust, Ebos and Metlifecare.

Contact fell 8c to 619 and Port of Tauranga fell 5c to 720.

Tourism Holdings fell 2c to 61 and TrustPower fell 7c to 750. Cavalier fell 2c to 248 and Ebos fell 1c to 589.

Auckland Airport fell 1c to 199 and released its September operating metrics.

Dual-listed bank ANZ fell 18c to 2910 and Westpac rose 40c to 3270.

In the United States, spooked traders unravelled a stock market rally late in the session as worries mounted about banks and a jump in the price of oil.

Analysts said a downbeat note from influential banking analyst Richard Bove raised concerns about Wells Fargo and sent investors rushing to dump financial stocks.

Oil also touched a new high for the year, and Wal-Mart Stores said it was stepping up its price-cutting, a sign that consumers are still struggling.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 92 points, or 0.9 per cent to 9949.36, after having risen 78 points earlier in the day to a new high for the year.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.9 per cent to 1081.40, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 0.6 per cent to 2150.73.

- NZPA