Telecom, Contact down as NZX 50 slumps early

SkyCity shares rose in early trading after it was revealed the company was negotiating with the Government to build a $350 million convention centre in Auckland. File photo / NZ Herald

New Zealand's benchmark NZX50 index fell nearly 14 points yesterday, but recorded its biggest fall in the first half hour of trading, two hours before Christchurch was slammed by more big aftershocks.

The NZX50 finished at 3476.68 points, down 13.95 points (0.399 per cent) on its close on Friday, when it edged up 1.9 points.

But it had actually fallen lower than that in early trading, and was bumping along after recovering about half the lost ground when it began slipping again just before noon and kept on diving to an intraday low of 3474.03 points, 15 minutes before the first of the afternoon's aftershocks hit.

The series of tremors sliced and diced the index's recovery from that low, and it finished with the lowest close in nearly two months, not helped by the market holiday across the Tasman, or the Asian markets following a weak lead from Wall Street.

There were 72 falls and only 35 rises in the prices of the 116 stocks traded. The turnover of 28.9 million shares was valued at $69 million.

SkyCity shares rose in early trading after it was revealed the company was negotiating with the Government to build a $350 million convention centre in Auckland. It wants the Government to allow more gaming tables and machines, and to extend its casino licence.

The aftershocks had a silver lining for Fletcher Building, up 1c to $8.67, as the company has extensive contracts to manage reconstruction.

Air New Zealand dodged clouds of ash from Chile to keep flying while rival airlines cancelled many transtasman and domestic flights, but its shares finished on par at $1.05 each.

Falling shares included Restaurant Brands, down 2c to $2.56, NZ Refining Co down 5c to $3.85, Hallenstein Glasson down 7c to $3.83, Contact Energy down 2c to $5.82, and Telecom down 4.5c to $2.27.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was among the few early risers, adding 2c to $2.95.

In the United States, the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed out their sixth week of losses on Friday as further signs of a global economic slowdown set the stage for more losses ahead.

The deepening gloom raised the prospect for the S&P, which suffered its worst week since August 2010, to break below the year's low of 1250 this week.

- NZPA