NZ sharemarket steps down while others fall

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The New Zealand sharemarket fell today but losses were less pronounced than in other markets and Telecom had another good day.

Nuplex was punished for issuing an earnings downgrade but finished off lows and commodity stocks were under pressure as turbulence in international commodity markets again frightened investors.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed down 18.559 points, or 0.521 per cent, at 3540.312, having yesterday climbed 30.1 points to its highest level in nearly three years. The percentage decline was about half that of the Dow Jones index on Wednesday.

Nuplex closed down 8c at 308 after issuing a profit warning. James Smalley at Hamilton, Hindin, Greene said that to put it in context the stock had fallen from around 370 in February and at its lows today at 300 it was not expensive on earnings multiples.

"The earnings guidance puts them at a price-to-earnings ratio of about 9.8 times so you are not looking at a stock that is priced for shoot the lights out results here," said Mr Smalley said. "But a downgrade is never flash."

Telecom rose 2c to 233, following a 7c rise yesterday.

"There were big volumes through Telecom today," said Mr Smalley.

He said the stock offered investors a great yield and many of the stocks that bucked the down trend today offered good yields in comparison to money invested in bank deposits.

OceanaGold shares were down 21c to 316 after an 8 per cent fall in spot silver prices, while spot gold fell 1 per cent.

Argosy Property was unchanged at 82 and its would be suitor DNZ Property was down 2c at 133.

Sky City, which announced senior management appointments today, was down 2c at 373.

Mainfreight gained 9c to 940, Scott Technology was up 7c to 150, Fletcher Building was down 9c at 896 and Contact Energy was down 5c at 599.

In the United States, stocks nearly erased a three-day rally as energy and other commodity shares sank, feeding worries about the market's ability to stay on its upward path.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 1 per cent at 12,630.03, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 1.1 per cent at 1342.08, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.9 per cent at 2845.06.

- NZPA