NZ stocks: Markets ease slightly after attacks spook overseas markets

The sharemarket opened slid lower during today's morning session as yesterday's perkier tone was undermined somewhat after bomb attacks in Spain spooked offshore markets.

By midday the benchmark NZSX-50 gross index was 6.84 points or 0.27 per cent lower at 2506.55 while the NZSX-40 capital index was 3.9 points or 0.17 per cent lower at 2292.31. Total turnover by 11.30am was $43.43 million, with $23.66 million of this in Telecom. There were 26 rises and 28 falls among the 107 stocks traded.

Amro Craigs Equities broker James Lock said it was "an interesting sort of morning", obviously influenced by offshore events.

Yesterday, simultaneous bomb blasts ripped through four packed commuter trains in Madrid killing 192 people and injuring 1421 in Europe's bloodiest attack for more than 15 years.

The Spanish government blamed Basque separatist group ETA, but a purported al Qaeda letter to an Arabic newspaper claimed responsibility for the 10 blasts, which triggered fear in world financial markets.

"The terrorist implications undoubtedly upset markets to a degree. The London market was off quite considerably and that flowed through to the Dow which closed on its lows," Mr Lock said.

However, the local market was holding up reasonably well in the circumstances. Giving the market some backbone was some flow on effects from yesterday's robust session when Telecom and the Reserve Bank gave the market some strength.

Telecom was unchanged by noon today at 589 after yesterday posting a 13c, or 2.26 per cent, gain to a three year high of 589.

The market also appeared to favour the Reserve Bank's decision to leave interest rates unchanged, and its new plans to intervene to curb excessive volatility in the local currency.

TelstraClear also continued to rise today after yesterdays news that the Australian Government had passed legislation enabling the sale of its remaining majority stake in parent company Telstra.

TelstraClear was 7c higher at 549 by midday.

But elsewhere in the top 50 gains were scarce. Fisher & Paykel Appliances were up a cent to 437, Independent Newspapers Ltd was up 2c to 472, Promina was up 2c to 407, Port of Tauranga was up 5c to 450, and Sky City was up a cent to 446.

Meanwhile, other stocks were suffering from the weaker general tone. Auckland International Airport was down 3c to 650, Baycorp Advantage down 5c to 315, Carter Holt Harvey was down 4c to 195 Contact Energy was down 3c to 515, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 3c to 1156, Hellaby Holdings down 3c to 495, Ryman Healthcare down 3c to 215, Steel & Tube Holdings down 4c to 378, and The Warehouse down a cent to 438.

On overseas markets last night the Spanish bomb attacks saw Wall St's Dow Jones industrial average fall 168.44 points or 1.64 per cent to 10128.45, according to the latest available data. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 17.12 points or 1.52 per cent to 1106.77. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index ended down, giving up 20.26 points or 1.03 per cent at 1943.89.

In London the FTSE 100 closed at 4445.2 points, down 100.1 or 2.20 per cent, and Japan's benchmark Nikkei average ended down 1.19 per cent at 11297.04.

- NZPA