KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand sharemarket lost ground today, as top stock Telecom fell 2 per cent on the release of proposed charges for access to its local network.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 15.53 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 4213.30 after falling 17 points yesterday. The New Zealand market lost 2 per cent on Friday, mirroring Wall St which tumbled more than 2 per cent on home lending concerns.
Markets have settled since US stocks rebounded on Monday on the back of increased optimism about earnings and credit conditions.
"The market has been very measured in its response to events of the last week," Nigel Scott of ABN Amro Craigs said. "At the moment, the NZ market is awaiting the corporate results."
The market has lost 11 days' worth of gains in the last few sessions.
"The New Zealand market has really just taken a little bit of premium off the top," he said.
Telecom fell 11c to 454 after the Commerce Commission released its draft determinations on local loop unbundling, proposing monthly rental charges for access by competitors at $16.49 a line for urban areas and $32.20 for rural areas.
"The (pricing outlook) maybe was a little more negative than people had anticipated," Mr Scott said.
Over $108 million worth of Telecom shares changed hands, but elsewhere on the market turnover was generally light. Total turnover was valued at $170.8 million, with rises outnumbering falls 71 to 40.
Fletcher Building rose 10c to 1250, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare fell 6c to 338, and F&P Appliances was steady at 357.
Contact Energy, which said it has filed resource consent applications for its proposed Te Mihi geothermal power station, fell 18c to 925.
Takeover target Auckland Airport was down a cent at 332, Air New Zealand jumped 6c to 267, Sky City was down 2c at 487, Sky TV lost 8c to 552, and Vector fell 2c to 262.
Mainfreight, which is taking control of a freight forwarding business in China, rose 4c to 758. Freightways was up a cent at 401, Port of Tauranga was up 5c at 695, and Infratil rose 4c to 314.
NZOG rose a cent to 128 after announcing production began at its Tui oil field overnight.
Michael Hill was up 5c at 921, Hallenstein Glasson fell 4c to 460, and Pumpkin Patch rose 4c to 349.
Sealegs was up a cent at 72 after saying it planned to raise $15 million through a rights issue and it upgraded its annual revenue forecast.
Insurer and fund manager Tower was up 2c at 232 despite news that insurance claims after recent severe weather were over budget.
Among dual-listed stocks, ANZ was up 35c at 3165, Westpac rose 15c to 2880, Lion Nathan was up 20c at 960, and AMP was up 23c at 1123.
- NZPA