NZ market closes lower, leaders tumble

The New Zealand sharemarket was weaker today as leading stocks took the brunt of a fairly underwhelming outlook for the economy from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ).

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed down 13.78 points, or 0.418 per cent, at 3280.556. As it closed the Australian market was up 0.85 per cent on news its economy created more jobs than expected in November and the unemployment rate fell to 5.2 per cent from 5.4 per cent.

The RBNZ kept the official cash rate unchanged at 3 per cent, while Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard presented a picture of a softer than expected economy in the near term and with slightly better growth next year. The NZ dollar fell in reaction to the statement but recovered.

The leaders were all weak with Telecom closing down 6c at 209, Fletcher Building down 6c at 782.

Electricity companies were also weak on a day the Electricity Authority said it would look into a recent rise in wholesale electricity prices. The authority took over from the Electricity Commission on November 1. Contact Energy fell 4c to 613, TrustPower fell 5c to 725 and Vector fell 1c to 244.

Auckland Airport fell 6c to 207, Ebos fell 5c to 745 and Sanford fell 3c to 473. Restaurant Brands fell 1c to 267 and Steel & Tube fell 3c to 207.

Mainfreight rose 15c to 775, and Freightways rose 4c to 304. NZOG rose 3c to 91, Pan Pacific Petroleum rose a cent to 22, and Infratil rose 2c to 191.

The Warehouse rose 1c to 380 and Hallenstein Glasson rose 3c to 410. Goodman Property rose 1c to 95 and Property for Industry rose 3c to 113.

Wellington Drive Technologies fell 0.4c to 1.9 and Allied Farmers traded at 2c.

"The tone of the Monetary Policy Statement struck the market as dovish and the two year swap has rallied nine basis points as a result," Deutsche Bank said.

ASB said the RBNZ may not hike the official cash rate until June.

Westpac rose 84c to 2914 and ANZ rose 60c to 3100 in this market.

In the United States, stocks ended up slightly, with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index closing at its highest level since September 2008, as gains in financial and technology stocks offset declines caused by a recent surge in bond yields.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.1 per cent to end unofficially at 11,372.48, the S&P 500 rose 0.4 per cent to 1228.26, and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.4 per cent to 2609.16.

- NZPA