KEY POINTS:
A surprise exit by SkyCity's managing director boosted the casino company's shares, and stopped the sharemarket from slipping too far into the red following falls offshore.
The benchmark NZSX-50 ended down 14.23 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 4270.91 after closing down 15.42 points on Friday.
More than 48.26 million shares worth $138.35 were traded. Falls outnumbered rises 63 to 40 among the 149 stocks traded
"A bit of weakness in the local market today, and that's in reaction to a large fall in the Dow Jones on Friday night," said Grant Williamson of Hamilton Hindin Greene.
SkyCity shares closed up 18c at 519, a cent below the day's high, after the company said Evan Davies was standing down and director Elmar Toime would step into the role of executive director until a replacement was found.
"He's been there for a long time and the market's really been looking for more action on the SkyCity front," Mr Williamson said.
"It appears the company's got a bit stale and I think it needs a bit more aggressive management in there."
Profit takers pushed Fletcher Building down 22c to 1248, although third-ranked Contact Energy gained 5c to 910 on moderate volume.
The strong New Zealand dollar weighed on the Fisher & Paykel stocks, both manufacturing exporters. F&P Appliances fell 6c to 372, and F&P Healthcare also lost 6c, to 339.
Top stock Telecom lost 3c to 456, Auckland Airport was down 2c at 319, and Sky TV rose a cent to 577.
NZ Oil and Gas rose 4c to a more than two-year high of 112.
"Investors continue to position themselves ahead of the oil flow from the Tui development, which should kick in next month," Mr Williamson said.
Mainfreight was flat at 750, Freightways fell 5c to 402, and Port of Tauranga gained 6c to 726.
The Warehouse was flat at 601, as was Tourism Holdings, at 270. Pumpkin Patch lost 4c to 351 and Hallenstein Glasson gained 7c to 475.
Among dual-listed stocks, Westpac fell 25c to 2840, ANZ rose 4c to 3260, AMP fell 8c to 1140, and Lion Nathan gained a cent to 1011.
Australia's benchmark index was down 0.7 per cent at 6336.9, while Japan's Nikkei average lost 0.5 per cent.
On Friday, US stocks declined as the heavily weighted financial sector slumped on worries that two hedge funds' losses on risky mortgage securities might not be contained.
The strains on financials overshadowed the debut of shares in Blackstone Group LP, the largest private equity fund to go public.
- NZPA
