NZ sharemarket recovers from falls

File photo / NZ Herald

The New Zealand sharemarket made up most of the ground lost early in a generally quiet session, with most focus on today's bailout of South Canterbury Finance.

The benchmark NZX-50 index ended the session down 0.7 points at 3026.10, recovering from an earlier 15-point fall. The index gained 29 points yesterday when it benefited from a rebound in offshore market sentiment.

Troubled South Canterbury Finance announced it was in receivership, having failed to find a buyer by today's deadline, and the Government moved immediately to pay investors from the crown guarantee scheme.

SCF shares were placed on a trading halt on Friday.

Blue chip stocks were mixed, with Telecom up a cent at 206, Sky TV up 3c at 507, and Infratil a cent higher at 163, but Contact Energy down a cent at 565, Sky City down 3c at 287 and Vector off 3c at 213.

Fletcher Building lost 9c to 752, after figures out this morning showed continued softness in building activity.

Air New Zealand, which is boosting capacity across its domestic network, fell 2c to 128.

NZ Oil and Gas lost 2c to 115, PGG Wrightson fell a cent to 54, Steel & Tube was down 3c at 222, and Hallenstein Glasson lost 3c to 382.

On the other side of the ledger, Tower gained 2c to 185, Trustpower rose 5c to 725, Sanford was up 3c at 399, and Port of Tauranga gained 5c to 675.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 Index lost nearly 1 per cent to 4410.

Earlier, worries about the pace of economic recovery in the US overshadowed data showing a rise in US consumer spending and income, resulting in a negative day on the US sharemarket.

- NZPA