Market mixed as earning season gears up

The New Zealand sharemarket was mixed today as the earnings season went into full gear.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 27.939 points, or 0.907 per cent, at 3053.107. Turnover was worth $95.46 million. There were 26 rises and 57 falls among the 118 stock traded. Stuart Hardie, investment adviser at ABN Amro Craigs, said there was some profit taking today.

Mainfreight rose 11c to 490 after saying trading in July and August had shown some improvement, while reporting a 51.1 per cent in first quarter profit from a year ago.

Telecom eased 3c to 267 ahead of its profit tomorrow.

NZ Refining continues to suffer after disappointing investors in its earnings report this week. It fell another 49c to 506 today.

Ebos rose 14c to 574 after reporting a 18.4 per cent increase in profit.

Taylors was unchanged at 180 after reporting an 82 per cent increase in profit.

AMP rose 15c to 745 after reporting lower earnings.

SkyCity rose 10c yesterday after reporting a 13 per cent rise in normalised annual net profit, but retreated 12c to 328 today.

Port of Tauranga eased 5c to 650 after reporting a 7.38 per cent rise in profit and increasing its dividend.

Michael Hill rose 2c to 69, Auckland Airport rose 2c to 172 and Methven rose 1c to 148.

Contact fell 6c to 619. NZX fell 4c to 765 and The Warehouse fell 1c to 410.

Fletcher Building fell 6c to 774, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare fell 9c to 325 and TrustPower fell 16c to 45.

In the United States, stocks shook off a slide in China's equity market, as investors responded favourably to a surprising drop in crude oil stockpiles that might suggest an improving demand outlook.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.7 per cent to end at 9279.16, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.7 per cent to 996.46, and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.7 per cent to 1969.24.

- NZPA