NZ stocks: Market eases after rocky session on Wall St

12.00pm

The sharemarket eased slightly on light turnover this morning following an up and down session on Wall Street.

The NZSE-40 capital index lost 4.07 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 1982.08 on trading worth $28 million by noon.

Craig Robins of Salomon Smith Barney said it was a quiet opening and the market was waiting to get direction from Australia.

Wall Street was strong early in last night's session but dipped at the close as investors grappled with a host of uncertainties ranging from a possible United States war on Iraq to the health of corporate profits.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 38 points, or 0.49 per cent, at 7717.19, and the technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index fell 21.74 points, or 1.83 per cent, to 1165.56.

The United States market had endured a steep sell-off on Wednesday after enjoying a fat rally on Tuesday.

In New Zealand, Telecom slipped 5 cents to 491 on shares worth $18.1 million, pulling down the index.

"It's fair to say that people have got one eye on the offshore markets and still remain a little bit nervous, but our market has been very resilient in the face of weak offshore sentiment," Mr Robins said.

Turners Auctions had a wildly successful debut on the sharemarket today, rising to 240 from its open price of 216 shortly after the bell. Some 759,809 shares had changed hands in the morning when the price eased back to 238.

The four million shares were offered at 150 in the $6 million capital raising.

Brokers and institutions had oversubscribed by three times after the offer opened in early September.

Other significant moves were Nuplex, down 5 cents to 310, Briscoe, up 3c to 240, Baycorp Advantage, down 9c to 335, Micheal Hill, down 10c to 565 and Sky City up 6c to 732.

There were 20 rises against 39 falls among the 104 stocks traded.

- NZPA