NZ stocks: Index pulled down by Telecom going ex div

12.00pm

The sharemarket had its normal quiet start to the week today with Telecom shedding its dividend and dragging the barometer index down being the main early feature.

Telecom was down 10c to 473 at 11.30am after shedding a 5c dividend, pushing the NZSE-40 capital index down 9.60 points to 1944.52. There was heavy offmarket trade in Telecom whose total turnover was just on $20 million, boosting the overall market turnover to $36.2 million.

The tone was not helped by a sour finish to the week on Wall Street where stocks fell amid fears of a possible bankruptcy at UAL Corp's United Airlines, the second-largest US airline which is Air NZ's Star Alliance partner.

The Dow Jones industrial average actually wrapped up its eighth-straight week of gains -- its longest winning streak since March 1998. But on Friday it closed down 35.59 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 8,896.09. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index finished down 9.11 points, or 0.61 per cent, at 1,478.83.

Westpac NZ dropped 29c to 1450 after shedding its 40c dividend.

Fletcher Forests was trading down 4c at 101 after a consolidation of its shares.

Auckland Airport was up 3c to 519. Much focus will be on the stock this week with the bookbuilding exercise due for completition on Wednesday and Auckland City Council due to make its decision on Thursday on selling its 25.7 per cent stake.

Sky TV fell 4c to 326, but its two thirds owner Indpendent Newspapers, was up 4c to 290. AMP was up 15c to 1472, Fisher & Paykel Appliances was up 4c at 1059, the Warehouse was up 4c to 715, and rarely traded Mooring Systems was up 5c to 115.

There were 29 rises and 21 falls among the 95 stocks traded.

- NZPA