NZ shares: Local market hangs in after Wall St tumble

12.00pm

The New Zealand sharemarket held on in early business today after Wall Street stocks tumbled heavily again overnight.

The NZSE-40 Capital Index was down just 0.90 points to 2070.88 on volume of $25 at 11.30am.

Wall Street began the third quarter on a dour note with the Nasdaq composite index dropping to a five-year low as the multibillion-dollar accounting scandal surrounding former high-flying phone company WorldCom deepened.

The Nasdaq dropped through the September 21 low it touched after the attacks on the United States, and kept falling to close at a level unseen since June 10, 1997.

Wall Street's accounting woes, along with jitters about political turmoil overseas and worries that the July 4 holiday may bring another attack on the United States, prompted investors to shy away.

The Nasdaq plummetted 59.45 points, or 4.1 per cent, to 1,403.76 -- its lowest close since June 10, 1997. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 133.47 points, or 1.44 per cent, at 9,109.79.

Brokers here said the local market's performance was promising athough not so surprising given that it had failed to scale the heights when Wall Street was driven up by the biotech and technology sectors.

"It's encouraging given it was a pretty ugly night over there," said ASB Securities broker Andrew Kelleher. "We are not falling away to the same degree. We never got to the heights they did and we aren't falling away to the same degree."

However, he expects a difficult trading week because of the thinning of the US market ahead of the Independence Day holiday on July 4.

There were very few movements of note.

Among the leaders Telecom gained 2c to 504, Carter Holt Harvey lost 1c to 194 and Fletcher Building was up 3c to 273.

The two Fisher & Paykel stocks lost further ground; Appliances down 10c to 900 and Healthcare 15c to 810 -- just 10c off its lowest price.

Vertex, which yesterday debuted 5 per cent below its 205 float price at 194, fell another 2c to 192 today.

Of the gainers, Cedenco rose 3c to 210, AMP 29 TO 1849, Powerco 2c to 192, Steel & Tube 2c to 192, Telstra 4c to 545 and Waste Management 4c to 305.

There were 23 gainers in all of the 111 stocks traded against 40 falls.

- NZPA