NZ sharemarket down

The New Zealand sharemarket weakened today as investors disappointed with Fisher & Paykel Appliances Ltd's profit warning sold the stock.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 19.167 points, or 0.612 per cent, at 3111.251, after falling 17.5 points yesterday.

Turnover was worth $64,882,524, of which $23,718,827 was in Fisher & Paykel Appliances shares. There were 23 rises and 60 falls among the 113 stocks traded.

The leading manufacturer's share price tumbled as low as 58c but found support and recovered to close down 9c at 65.

"The market was probably going to be flat to weaker today so Fisher and Paykel Appliances has just added three or four points," said Stephen Wright at ASB Securities.

He said the profit downgrade raised credibility issues so soon after a capital raising.

"The stock is finding some support," said Shane Solly, portfolio manager at Mint Asset Management. He said it was disappointing that nothing was said at the annual meeting in August.

Otherwise the market reflected weak offshore markets.

Among the leaders Fletcher Building fell 6c to 825 and Telecom was unchanged at 262. Contact Energy eased 5c to 571.

Hallenstein Glasson shares were down 5c early to 300 but ended unchanged at 305 amid optimism it will not have to discount as much as the economy recovers.

Also falling were TrustPower, down 4c to 736, Infratil 1c to 170, Sanford 4c to 495, Freightways 3c to 311, Cavalier 3c to 270, GPG 1c to 89, Mainfreight 6c to 519, The Warehouse 9c to 400, Nuplex 5c to 244 and Pike River Coal 2c to 98, SkyTV 8c to 466, Tourism Holdings 3c to 66 and Rakon 5c to 120.

Tower fell 4c to 170 and said today its rights issue was successful in raising $81.3m.

US stocks fell on Thursday on signs of weakness in housing and as investors worried that authorities might curb stimulus efforts.

The benchmark S&P 500 has rallied nearly 60 per cent in six months from 12-year lows.

"The housing number today probably threw some petrol on the fire," said John Kosar, market technician and president of Asbury Research in Chicago. "It's not only that the recovery is fragile, but the other important story is just how far the market has come, so fast."

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 41.11 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 9707.44. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 10.09 points, or 0.95 per cent, to 1050.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 23.81 points, or 1.12 per cent, to 2107.61.

- NZPA