KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket traded negatively in post-Easter trading today, ignoring a strong night on Wall Street.
Declines in leading stocks led to the benchmark NZSX-50 index down nearly 0.8 per cent or 33.11 points to 4147.35.
Brokers said possible factors were a lull in corporate news between reporting seasons, and the spectre of another interest rate rise.
"We had a very strong employment figure out, there doesn't seem to be an easing in sight with regards to interest rates," noted James Smalley, client adviser at Hamilton, Hindin, Greene.
"That's also reflected in our dollar being very strong as well, which I think is probably affecting the overall market."
Telecom continued to ease, losing 6c to 4 69 on moderate volume, as talk swirled about the level of money shareholders could expect to see from the sale of the Yellow Pages.
Contact Energy slid 19c to 908 on low volume, and Fletcher Building was the second most active stock, sliding 11c to 1139.
Conversely, The Warehouse rose above $7 to hit 706, up 6c, which brokers said was likely to due to a positive result from Australian retail chain Myer and continued merger activity for Coles.
Volume was strong in Sky City, slipping 2c to 469 on $10.8m worth of shares.
There was also high interest in Fisher & Paykel Appliances, which which fell a cent to 369, surging ahead of its twin, F&P Healthcare, which was down 5c to 366.
Healthcare has long held the lead because of its higher-margin product, but the resilient New Zealand dollar has taken its toll.
"...Export-related stocks continue to be under pressure. Appliances is obviously a much larger volume, lower margin business but they're not immune either," Mr Smalley said.
On the flipside, Air New Zealand continued its strong run, up another 4c to 238, after good results and jet fuel savings, despite the anticipated impact of the high dollar on tourism.
Port of Tauranga jumped 6c to 625 as it announced its long-serving chief financial officer Colin Boocock was retiring.
Uranium prospector Summit Resources Ltd jumped 46c to $6.52 after it said French nuclear group Areva had agreed to pay $138 million for a 9 per cent interest in the company, and held out the possibility the stake could rise to 18 per cent .
Offshore, Australian stocks lost 0.03 per cent in mid-afternoon trading, easing off a lifetime high set yesterday.
On Wall Street, the Dow industrials rose for an eighth straight session, the longest winning streak in four years, as a rebound in oil prices lifted energy shares and Citigroup gained on expectations of big job cuts.
Reports that Citigroup Inc will cut at least 15,000 jobs lifted the No 1 US bank's shares 1.6 per cent, supporting the Dow and S&P indexes.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 4.71 points, or 0.04 per cent, to end at 12,573.85 . The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 8.43 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 2477.61.
- NZPA