Telecom dips on uncertainty over separation plans

Photo / Richard Robinson

The New Zealand sharemarket shed some of Monday's gains, despite rises in markets around the world.

The benchmark NZX-50 index lost 12.76 points to close at 3008.43 yesterday.

Depressing the market was Telecom's 2 per cent drop, amid calls for the telco to come clean over its plans for voluntary separation after it sought changes to its undertakings made to the Government. Telecom closed down 4c at $1.93.

Fletcher Building gained a cent to $7.74, but it was out of step with other blue chips.

Contact Energy fell 9c, or 1.6 per cent, to $5.60 after the power company said its generation fell nearly 3 per cent for the year ended June. Auckland Airport lost 2c to 195, SkyCity fell a cent to 298, Infratil was down a cent at $1.62, and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare shed a cent to $2.94.

Rakon continued the rise which started on Thursday, closing up 4c at $1.05, and Restaurant Brands was up a cent at $2.38.

Tourism Holdings was up 3c, or 4 per cent, at 78c after announcing a one-off, $900,000 reduction in its annual net profit as a result of Government tax changes in the budget.

Abano Healthcare rose 10c to $5.30 ahead of the release of its $4.4 million annual net profit, in line with forecast, after the market closed.

Air New Zealand was up 2c at $1.14, Hallenstein Glasson was up 5c at $3.68, Trustpower rose 5c to $7.30, and Ebos Group was up 15c at $6.30.

Outdoor gear company Kathmandu was down 2c at $2.09, Port of Tauranga lost 6c to $6.84, and Tower fell 2c to $1.85.

Dual-listed stocks were firmer, with Westpac up 80c at $29.10, ANZ up 26c at $28.21 and Telstra 2c higher at $3.98, although AMP was down 4c at $6.61.

Australia's <b>S&P/ASX 200 Index was up 0.3 per cent at 4500, while Asian stocks hit a two-and-a-half-month high.

Markets were boosted by earlier gains on the back of United States data showing a pick-up in new home sales, reviving hopes for improvement in a tepid economic recovery.

- NZPA