NZ stocks: Business as usual as market drifts lower

It was business as usual on the sharemarket today after software problems curtailed all but two hours trading yesterday.

The market continued yesterday's downward trend.

The NZSX-50 index fell 1 per cent in the time allowed yesterday and today was down 10.81 points at 2185.85 at noon. The NZSX-40 capital index was down 9.75 to 2111.31.

With a lot of trading held over from yesterday, volume was solid at $43 million.

The direction from Wall Street was negative as stocks ended lower as disappointing results from Dow component Hewlett-Packard weighed on blue chips and the market stalled after two straight days of gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 31.39 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 9,397.51, and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index eased 2.05 points to 1,000.30 and the technology-laden Nasdaq fell just 0.57 of a point to 1,760.54.

Market leader Telecom was down just 1c at 503. It made up over half of the market's total volume. It announced a major deal with Fonterra on providing internet access to dairy farmers.

There was also also good volume in AMP which fell 33c to 508 after yesterday reporting one of the largest losses in Australasian corportate history -- some $2.4 billion.

Fellow insurer Axa fell 3c to 283 while Tower fell 1c to 115.

Wrightson was steady on 132 after reporting a 13 per cent fall in its June year net profit to $18.5 million. Despite the fall, the company was in optimistic mood and said it considered its shares undervalued.

Allied Farmers was up 5c to 208.

Kirkaldies, speculated as a possible buyer of Farmers, rose 21c to 356.

Dorchester was up 10c to 182 after its annual meeting yesterday where it announced a two-for-four share option to increase liquidity in the stock. The options, in effect a delayed cash issue, will be issued at $1.70 each.

The Warehouse fell 10c to 510, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare fell 15c to 1220, Contact Energy fell 2c to 483, Michael Hill fell 15c to 410 and Westpac NZ fell 9c to 1691. There were 32 stocks to rise and 38 falls among the 118 traded.

- NZPA