NZ stocks: Kiwi shares trade cautiously after Wall St fall

12.00pm

The New Zealand sharemarket was trading cautiously this morning, with an eye to another difficult night on Wall St.

US investors, disheartened by the lack of good news among a flurry of corporate reports this week, pummelled the broad market to another 5-year low.

Back in New Zealand the NZSE-40 capital index was actually up barely a point to 2053.17 just after 11am, and investors were buying selectively.

"I guess they're still very much watching what's happening internationally," said JB Were's manager of private broking, John Cobb.

"The European markets all had a good night, the FTSE was up another 100 points...(on) a belief it was oversold. The US market closed down 130 points, Microsoft came out after the close of business and reported what appears to be a slightly disappointing result, so I think our market will be pretty cautious today."

Turnover was a low $16.3 million and activity was thin. Baycorp Advantage was trading heavily, losing 9c to 446 on $2.5 million worth of shares.

Among the leaders, Telecom was back 5c to 491, Auckland Airport was up 2c to 420, Fletcher Forests was up a cent to 25, and Carter Holt was up a cent to 197, after its well received second quarter result on Wednesday.

Tranz Rail was up 7c to 230 as sentiment about the stock improved ahead of a financial briefing next week, and Air New Zealand was up 1c to 68 as rumours continued to swirl about Qantas taking a stake.

Independent News was up 4c to 350, Tower was up 4c to 434, Cavalier and Cedenco lost 10c to 600 and 185 respectively, and CDL Hotels was down a cent to 24 on turnover of 5 million shares.

Axa Asia was up 6c to 294 after announcing it was buying Australian funds management advisory business ipac Securities Ltd for $A205 million ($NZ237.87 million).

There were 25 rises and 26 falls on 94 stocks traded.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial index fell to its lowest close since September, dropping 132.99 points, or 1.56 per cent, to 8409.49.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 24.48 points, or 2.7 per cent, at 881.56, for its lowest close since June 1997. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was down 40.30 points, or 2.88 per cent, at 1356.95. The Nasdaq also is floundering near a 5-year low.

- NZPA