KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket closed down almost 16 points today after a quiet start to the week.
The NZSX-50 was down 15.7 points to 3573.8 on turnover totalling $99.1 million, with investors cautious after the budget announcement last week.
"High energy prices are starting to put pressure on international and local markets where investors are starting to realise the effect high oil prices are going to have on consumer demand for certain items, including airlines, transportation and retail," Hamilton, Hindin and Greene director Grant Williamson said.
"The New Zealand market, although it's down 15-16 points, it has probably held up quite well compared to a number of the off-shore markets."
Benefiting from the high energy prices, Contact Energy was up 10c to 915, after being down to 900 in early trading.
A firm New Zealand dollar saw export stocks down slightly - Fisher and Paykel Healthcare 9c to 258 and Fisher and Paykel Appliances 2c to 227.
Fletcher Building was down 5c to 781, Freightways 7c to 330, Mainfreight 14c to 682, Port of Tauranga 5c to 655, Ryman 7c to 173 and Sky TV 12c to 441.
Against the trend, The Warehouse was up 2c to 543, SkyCity 4c to 375, Infratil 2c to 228 and Air New Zealand 1c to 114. Top-stock Telecom closed up at 391.
A lack of local market news meant investors were focusing on international markets and the price of oil, Mr Williamson said.
In the US, markets are closed Monday for Memorial day, stocks fell on Friday to round out the worst week in three months as worries about high oil prices hammered energy-sensitive sectors and left investors on edge about inflation at the onset of a holiday weekend.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.16 per cent to close at 12,479.63 on Friday. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 1.32 per cent to 1375.93, while the Nasdaq Composite Index ended down 0.81 per cent at 2444.67.
For the week, the Dow fell 3.9 per cent, the S&P 500 shed 3.5 per cent and the Nasdaq dropped 3.3 per cent.
Australian shares were also down today, led down by top miner BHP Billiton Ltd. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 44.2 points to 5723.8 after falling to a two-week closing low on Friday.
Japan's Nikkei share average fell 2 per cent to 13,714.89 in early trading and looked set for its largest single-day decline in two weeks.
- NZPA