NZ stocks: Market dips on slim holiday volume

The New Zealand sharemarket was treading water today as market players took advantage of the break between Christmas and New Year.

The NZSE-40 capital index closed down 0.53 per cent, or 10.31 points, at 1938.91, while the top-10 index lost 0.37 per cent to 873.46.

Turnover of 4.40 million was valued at $10.64 million.

"This is certainly a low point in the holiday season's trade," Malcolm Davie of First NZ Capital said.

"Very restricted news flow has exacerbated the low volumes.

"I would read very little into today's movements, with so many people out of action it's difficult to get much sense of a trend," Mr Davie said.

Market leader Telecom was down 7c at 448, Baycorp Advantage lost 5c to 203, AMP shed 35c to 1220, ANZ Bank was down 35c at 1890, and fellow financial services company Tower was unchanged at 211.

Fletcher Building rose 6c to 340, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gained 15c to 945, Independent Newspapers was up 3c at 310, Tranz Rail gained 1c to 107, Auckland Airport rose 4c to 554, and Ports of Auckland was up 5c at 660.

Rural services company Allied Farmers was down 15c at 195 after its warning a week ago that its first half pre-tax profit was likely to be about 20 per cent down on last year's $2.65 million. The strong New Zealand dollar and a poor spring were the main factors, the company said.

There were 42 falls and 22 rises on the 100 stocks traded.

In offshore markets, Britain's leading index lost 2.9 per cent on Friday to close at its lowest level since October 2002.

On Wall St, the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 128.83 points, or 1.53 per cent, at 8303.78; the broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 14.24 points, or 1.6 per cent, to 875.42; and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 19.43 points, or 1.42 per cent, to 1348.46.

- NZPA