KEY POINTS:
The sharemarket broke a five-session winning streak as worries about the global credit crunch resurfaced today.
However, the damage by the close was far less than in morning when the benchmark NZSX-50 index was over 40 points off.
It ended only 14.9 points down at 4140.09 as the Australian market and others in Asia reacted mildly to a Wall Street's 1.5 per cent slide that was precipitated by fresh concerns about the US housing and mortgage market.
Brokers said trading was light, particularly in the afternoon, as Australia wound down for a stretched weekend thanks to Apec. Turnover totalled $101.9 million.
First NZ Capital broker James Snell said investors were confused about direction. People were looking for a definite lead but it was not forthcoming, he added.
Many investors believed the worst of the credit crunch was over but on Wall Street, shares fell markedly as fresh fears emerged over the distressed US housing and credit markets, dampening investors' optimism.
The New Zealand dollar responded with another dip, particularly against the Australian dollar, where it slid to its lowest level for the year.
Only one stock - exporting carpet maker Cavalier Corp - was up in the top 50 in the morning, but by the close the picture was much more mixed. Cavalier ended 7c up on 312.
Telecom picked itself up from an 11c fall this morning to end 4c off at 437.
Fletcher Building was down 5c down at 1185, and Contact Energy ended 6c down at 901.
Sky TV more than surrendered yesterday's 12c rise with a 17c drop to 543.
Auckland Airport only lost 2c to 307 after Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) confirmed it had abandoned plans to take over the company. The signs were apparent the deal was off last week and analysts are picking DAE might launch a fresh cash offer for a minority stake to compete with the Canadian pension fund back up offer.
Australian bank stocks went for a skid, Westpac off 71c at 3165 and ANZ down 57c to 3400, after their peer NAB said the credit crunch was hurting business.
Conversely, Australian food and beverage stocks were up with Lion Nathan up 15c at 1105 and Goodman Fielder up 21c to 320.
Mr Snell said while there were some good moves in the market, they tended to be simply responses to orders.
Life Pharmacies was a large mover among the small stocks, down 6c at 65c. New Image rose 2.2c to 13.2, Provenco rose 2c to 57c and Software of Excellence rose 7c to 252.
Dorchester Pacific fell 4c to 100 as concerns about finance companies deepened with another one going into receivership today.
- NZPA