Global woes keep wary investors away

Shares in The Warehouse lifted sharply by 10c. Photo / Steven McNicholl

New Zealand's benchmark index slumped more than half a per cent yesterday as global worries deterred investors on both sides of the Tasman.

Analysts said that ahead of the end of the June 30 financial year on Thursday, investors such as big institutions had little reason to buy with worries continuing about United States growth and the Greek debt crisis ahead of a vote this week on austerity measures weighing on financial markets.

In Australia shares weakened further, dropping 1.1 per cent to head back towards the year's low that they dipped to a week ago, and on track for the worst quarterly performance in a year as global worries deterred investors.

New Zealand's NZX-50 index slipped 0.51 per cent - shaving 17.52 points from its level - to finish at 3438.08 points. There were 46 rises and 49 falls among the 114 stocks traded, with a total of 43 million shares traded for a value of $113.5million.

Shares in The Warehouse lifted sharply by 10c after a weekend report that Australian grocer Woolworths might look to boost its stake, and finished the day at $3.53. Mainfreight gained 6c to $10.21, fisher Sanford rose 3c to $5.35 and wool carpet company Cavalier rose 12c to $3.90.

But across the NZX-50 index - which has mostly fallen over the past week - many well-known stocks slipped. Fletcher Building fell 3c to $8.64, Contact Energy was down 1c to $5.35, and Telecom lost 5.5c to $2.45.5. Port of Tauranga fell 2c to $8.83.

Australian shares held just above the year's low of a week ago and were on track for the worst quarterly performance in a year.

The benchmark ASX 200 index tumbled 46.3 points to 4461.8, ending above the year low of 4451.70.

It firmed 0.2 per cent on Friday and posted its first weekly gain in five weeks.

In the US on Friday (local time) the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 1 per cent to 11,934.58 at the close, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 1.2 per cent to 1268.45, and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 1.3 per cent to 2652.89.

For the week, the Dow fell 0.6 per cent and the S&P 500 shed 0.2 per cent, while the Nasdaq gained 1.4 per cent.

- NZPA