NZ sharemarket ends lower

The New Zealand sharemarket ended slightly lower with Telecom's price closing unchanged as a debate raged about its future prospects in an uncertain regulatory environment.

Investors continued to smile on Restaurant Brands but a report from the Hoki-1 offshore exploration well disappointed investors in New Zealand Oil and Gas.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed down 9.811 points, or 0.295 per cent, at 3311.309. Turnover was worth $89.3 million. There were 32 rises and 43 falls among the 115 stocks traded.

Yesterday the index reached a 19-month high before ending down 14.4 points after Telecom cut its earnings guidance for the 2011 to 2013 financial years.

Asian markets were lower following a bigger-than-expected increase in US jobless claims and concern over the latest move from China to cool their real-estate market.

Today, Fitch cut Telecom's rating and commentary in the media focused on what Telecom would have to do to be part of the Government's ultrafast broadband plans.

"A succession of bad news is taking it toll on the price," said Stephen Wright at ASB Securities. It was hard to entice new investors in but the stock was drifting.

Telecom ended unchanged at 218, Fletcher Building was down 4c at 849 and Contact Energy was down 4c at 638.

Restaurant Brands rose 5c to 231. The company, which has the KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks Coffee brands in this company, received a boost earlier this month when it reported full-year net profit, excluding non-trading items, rose 70 per cent.

NZOG fell 5c to 156 after hopes of finding a large oil field in deep water off Taranaki suffered a blow, with drillers finding no indications of hydrocarbons when the Hoki wildcat reached its primary target area overnight. NZOG has a stake in the well.

Skellerup was unchanged at 63 on a day in which the company announced managing director Donald Stewart was leaving after 18 years in the job and more than 30 years at the company.

SkyTV eased 3c to 511, Port of Tauranga fell 1c to 695, Tourism Holdings fell 1c to 97 and The Warehouse fell 5c to 383. Nuplex fell 9c to 326 as profit-taking continued.

In the United States, stocks posted their sixth straight day of gains as an encouraging profit forecast from United Parcel Service lifted transportation shares, though concerns about a rise in weekly jobless claims limited the market's advance.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2 per cent to end at 11,144.57, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index edged up or 0.1 per cent to 1211.67, and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.4 per cent to close at 2515.69.

- NZPA