KEY POINTS:
Nervousness pushed shares to a year low today, with the sharemarket shaving off 0.7 per cent despite a positive start to the session.
Despite another positive day on Wall Street, the benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 27.7 points at 3872.2, its lowest since December 2006, on moderate turnover of $108.6 million.
"Another extremely disappointing day today - initially we opened firmer but after seeing the Australian market come down in the afternoon we've closed down..." said Hamilton Hindin Greene partner Grant Williamson.
"Disappointing in reaction to a firmer Wall Street last night, but following Wall Street's close American Express said they've seen a softening in consumer activity, which may not be too good for activity in the States tonight," he said.
The sharemarket put in its worst performance last year since 2002, and has slipped more than 160 points, or 4 per cent, in the first two weeks of 2008. The top-50 has lost $2 billion in value over that time.
"A lot of nervousness out there amongst investors, and sellers are definitely in charge of this market," Mr Williamson said.
Telecom fell 6c to 420, Contact Energy was flat at 827, Fletcher Building lost 9c to a 10-month low of 1073, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare lost 2c to 341, and F&P Appliances lost 4c to 318.
Sky City shares fell 6c to a four-month low of 420, below their level in September when the casino company announced it had received a takeover offer.
Rounding out the top-10, Sky TV was flat at 562, Auckland International Airport lost 5c to 270, Vector was up a cent at 221, and Kiwi Income Property Trust rose 3c to 135.
The few top-50 stocks to post gains included NZX, up 6c to 882, PGG Wrightson, up 3c to 222, Rakon, up 9c to 382, and Port of Tauranga, up 2c to 666.
Mainfreight lost 8c to 614, Freightways was down 5c at 360, Hallenstein Glasson fell 14c to 377, Trustpower was down 8c to 814, and NZ Refining lost 15c to 781.
Dual-listed stocks were mixed, with ANZ up 10c at 3000, Westpac down 70c at 2980, Lion Nathan up 19c at 1085, and Goodman down 4c to 197.
- NZPA