Market close: Sharemarket takes a breather after smashing records

Mainfreight was an exception as most big stocks slipped in trade today. Photo / Supplied

Transport and logistics operator Mainfreight was the lone ranger as the sharemarkets, both here and overseas, took a breather after rushing to record highs in recent trading days.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index drifted to 13,217.14, down 29.62 points or 0.22 per cent after reaching an intraday low of 13,185. Trading was light and spread over the small cap stocks – with 93.36 million shares worth $111.77m changing hands.

There were 71 gainers and 63 decliners over the whole market of 184 stocks.

Greg Smith, head of research with Fat Prophets, said with little news, it was a typical holiday trading day. "Many investors have checked out for the year and thinking more about their summer break."

The local market followed the tone on Wall Street when the three leading indices fell overnight from their record highs amidst further confusion with the United States economic stimulus package. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked a move to increase the stimulus cheques from $US600 ($NZ836) to $US2000 ($NZ2788).

A stronger NZ dollar was also weighing on the market, rising to US71.85c against the American greenback. The Australian S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 0.72 per cent to 6651.90 at 5.45pm.

There were few major price movements on the local market – except for Mainfreight. The market darling continued to capture new ground, rising $2.89 or 4.31 per cent to $69.89 on 1074 trades worth $3.2m.

Contact Energy made a late surge, rising 16c or 1.77 per cent to a new high of $9.20, after falling to an intraday low of $8.82. Port of Tauranga also had a strong turnaround, climbing 12c or 1.63 per cent to $7.47 after falling to a day's low of $7.19. Utilities investor Infratil reached a new high, gaining 5c to $7.40.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare had another low day, falling 66c or 1.97 per cent to $32.84; Ryman Healthcare was down 30c or 1.94 per cent to $15.20; and fast food operator Restaurant Brands lost 40c or 3.33 per cent to $11.60.

After several days of recovering, a2 Milk fell 17c to $12.05 after hitting an intraday high of $12.50. Summerset Group Holdings also slowed after making recent strong gains, shedding 21c to $12.45. Chorus was down 11c to $7.94, and wine exporter Delegat Group decreased 20c to $15.20.

Smaller caps made gains. Plexure Group climbed 6c or 5.04 per cent to $1.25; NZME was up 3c or 4.48 per cent to 70c; water cooler supplier Just Life also increased 3c or 4.05 per cent to 77c; Sky Network Television rose 0.04c or 2.48 per cent to 16.5c; and Pacific Edge continued its strong rise, gaining 4c or 3.39 per cent to $1.22.

New Zealand Oil and Gas regained 1.5c or 2.88 per cent to 53.5c after falling nearly 30 per cent the day before when it announced the Ironbark-1 gas well off the Western Australian coast was dry.

In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 Index both slipped 0.22 per cent to 30,335.67 and 3727.04 respectively, and the technology-driven Nasdaq Composite fell 0.38 per cent to 12,850.22 points.

Among the Dow Jones leaders, Apple fell 1.3 per cent to $US134.87 ($NZ187.94), Microsoft was down 0.36 per cent to $US224.15 ($312.36), and electric vehicle maker Tesla was up 0.35 per cent to $US665.99 ($928.09).