KEY POINTS:
Further declines in blue chips pushed the top-50 index to its eighth consecutive decline today, despite a mild rally on Wall Street to kick-start trading.
The NZSX-50 index closed down 56.7 points, or 1.7 per cent, at a 30-month low of 3283.4. Turnover totalled $201.9 million.
"Basically people appear to be throwing the baby out with the bathwater at the moment," said David Price of Forsyth Barr.
Current prices for many stocks implied substantial declines in company profitability for quite a long time.
"At the moment, the least path of resistance is still on the downside and that's not going to change any time soon," Mr Price said.
High global and domestic inflation, rampant food and fuel price rises, plunging consumer and business confidence and a slowing domestic economy were hitting markets around the world.
On the plus side, New Zealand companies had better balance sheets than ever with low levels of debt, he said.
Top stock Telecom was down 12c, or 3 per cent, at 373, Contact Energy lost 17c to 815, and Fletcher Building slid 13c to a fresh three-year low of 641.
Fisher & Paykel Appliances hit a new record closing low of 195, down 10c. F&P Healthcare lost 6c to 214, Auckland Airport was down 3c at 196, Sky TV fell 10c to 435, and Infratil was down 5c at 195.
Casino operator Sky City was up 2c at 320, and Kiwi Income Property Trust rose 2c to 119.
Steel & Tube fell 10c to 280, TrustPower shed 35c to 760, NZ Refining sank 100 to 640, Freightways was down 5c at 293, and Mainfreight lost 21c to 669.
NZ Oil & Gas was flat at 156 after increasing its estimate of reserves in the Tui field.
Dominion Finance Holdings, which yesterday slumped 38c to a record low 12 after a trading halt was lifted, regained 5c to 17. Its shares were suspended on Tuesday when it announced its two subsidiaries were having liquidity problems, and it was considering a moratorium on repayments to investors.
The Warehouse fell 12c to 470, and Hallenstein Glasson was down 8c at 278.
Recent poor retail sales implied a 50 per cent hit on earnings before interest and tax for listed retail companies, Mr Price said.
Tower was up a cent at 218, Pumpkin Patch rose 2c to 159, PGG Wrightson gained 7c to 265, and Tourism Holdings reversed some recent weakness with an 11c rise to 160.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 1.3 per cent to 5294, and Japan's Nikkei share average was down 1.5 per cent.
Earlier in New York, US stocks rose as a drop in oil prices fuelled investor optimism about consumer spending, driving shares of transportation and retailers sharply higher.
- NZPA