NZ stocks: Shares edge lower in line with offshore markets

New Zealand stocks eased across the board this morning, after US markets kicked off the week on a sour note.

The benchmark NZSE-40 index was down 19.02 points, or 0.93 per cent, at 2022.14 by just after 11am. Turnover was light at $25 million.

"We opened up weaker in line with overseas markets, continuing on from the fairly weak trend of yesterday," Forsyth Barr Frater Williams equities dealer Alan Wills said.

"We had a lot of activity last week centering round the rebalancing of some (MSCI) indices. Now that that business seems to have been done we are getting back into more normal trading activity and patterns.

"A number of stocks were pushed a little hard last week so they are just coming back a bit."

Among the leading stocks, Telecom, which makes up 22 per cent of the NZSE-40 index, was trading down 7c at 494, number two stock Carter Holt Harvey was down 4c at 161, takeover target Contact Energy was down 6c at 397 - despite announcing this morning it will raise its retail and business gas prices in January - Sky City slipped 8c to 600 and The Warehouse shed 10c to 650.

In all, falls outnumbered rises by 45 to 20 among the 111 stocks changing hands by mid morning.

Market newcomers Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Fisher & Paykel Appliances also both ceded a little more territory this morning, trading down 30c at 1765 and 15c at 930 respectively.

Media company INL was down 2c at 350, Infratil was down 3c at 165 and Tranz Rail was down 5c at 410.

The rail operator's move to take a 50 per cent stake in the joint venture that will run its Tranz Scenic operations has surprised some in the investment community, given the company's commitment to quitting passenger operations.

Tranz Rail on Friday sealed the sale of its long-distance passenger business to Don Gibson and Gary McDonald, the principals of Australia's West Coast Railway, for $33 million.

Stocks to gain ground by mid morning included Baycorp, up 10c at 1105, Fletcher Building, up a cent at 275 and Frucor, up by the same amount at 238.

In the US stocks fell overnight with selling generated by a sudden leap in Middle East hostilities and concern about the corporate fallout from Enron Corp, the former Wall Street darling that is now the largest ever US bankruptcy.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended with a loss of 87.60 points, or 0.89 percent, to 9,763.96, according to the latest data, and the Nasdaq composite fell 25.68 points, or 1.33 per cent, to 1,904.90. The S&P 500 shed 9.55 points, or 0.84 per cent, at 1,129.90.

With little in the way of local news out today, Mr Wills expected the local market to follow Wall Street's lead and edge lower throughout the day.

- NZPA