KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket retreated yesterday, with investors seemingly watching developments in the dollar.
Weaker overseas markets also dented sentiment, leading the NZX-50 down 0.78 per cent, or 32.99 points, to 4194.57.
Grant Williamson, a partner at Hamilton, Hindin, Greene, said the correction "really is a case of local investors still taking profits and no sign of any bargain hunters".
But he said things could change quickly if the Reserve Bank's currency intervention on Monday had the desired effect.
"Investors will be very wary that when they do start to see the kiwi dollar fall, it could fall quite quickly, so they'll be keeping a very close eye on things and export stocks will be one of the first things they'll be buying.
Most of the blue chips were down, with the exception of Contact, up a cent to $8.83. Fletcher Building fell 5c to $12.75, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 4c to $3.49; and its twin F&P Appliances eased a cent to $3.69.
Telecom was off 4c to $4.59, in line with the broader market on low volumes.
"Telecom has broken below its recent trading range so it does look set to weaken a bit further from these levels," Williamson said.
He did not think trading had been affected by a media report that internal candidate Marko Bogoievski was out of the running as a replacement for chief executive Theresa Gattung.
Other moves included The Warehouse, down 9c to $6.03 on continued uncertainty about its future ownership; Nuplex, down 15c to $6.80; SkyCity, down 7c to $4.92; and Vector, down 7c to $2.70.
Profit taking continued at Air NZ, down 7c to $2.93 after a good run; and NZ Oil & Gas rose a cent to $1.03 after lifting its forecast operating earnings from its Tui field.
Rakon, which was becoming "quite a volatile stock", fell 18c to $5.15.
- NZPA
