NZ stocks: Market suffers slight drop

The New Zealand sharemarket edged lower on light volume today.

The United States market was closed on Friday and futures contracts indicated a weak performance when it opened for the new week.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 18.534 points, or 0.671 per cent, at 2742.971. Turnover was worth $42.73 million.

There were 19 rises and 39 falls among the 103 stocks traded. The Australian market was down just under a per cent as New Zealand closed.

Stuart Hardie, investment adviser at ABN Amro Craigs, said turnover was dismal and the market was "very much drifting".

"There's more red than green on the screens," he said.

Telecom fell 2c to 267 on a day in which it was reported that TelstraClear would offer mobile services over the Vodafone network.

Fletcher Building fell 7c to 647 even though reports that the residential property market was bottoming out continued to be released.

Mr Hardie was building companies were weak in Australia today. ABN Amro Craigs shifted its recommendation on the stock to buy from hold today.

Contact Energy fell 11c to 656 and TrustPower was unchanged at 755.

Auckland Airport fell to 5c to 151. It said today that a decision not to implement some charges would be offset in rises in other charges.

Methven fell 5c to 130 after saying the Commerce Commission today advised it intended to prosecute it under the Fair Trading Act for allegedly making misleading claims.

Genesis Research fell 5c to 10c.

Hellaby Holdings dropped 9c to 120, taking it back down nearer to its share price before it shot up 28c last Wednesday after saying it had knocked its core bank debt back by more than a third to $51m over the past six months.

The Warehouse eased 4c to 373 but Michael Hill was unchanged at 63.

Tourism Holdings rose 4c to 45, Rakon rose 5c to 145, SkyCity rose 5c to 263 and Port of Tauranga rose 4c to 609.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was unchanged at 290 but the appliances stock eased 2c to 66.

- NZPA