KEY POINTS:
Falls on the Australian and US sharemarkets provided little inspiration for the local bourse today.
Trading was quiet, with Wall St down on concerns about sub-prime mortgages and "Australia's not playing ball either," Greenslades broker Paul Valk said.
The NZSX-50 index closed down 0.16 per cent or 7.16 points to 4229.68 on turnover worth $136 million.
The days' big winner was South Port, which rose 10c or 4 per cent to 260 after the allocation of exploration permits for the Great South Basin, raising hopes of higher port traffic.
Profit-takers clipped NZ Oil & Gas, which shot up 6 per cent yesterday to a year high but gave up a cent today to 123. Today an NZOG interest, Pike River Coal, announced that its IPO had closed yesterday oversubscribed.
Further management turbulence hit Vector today but the stock shed only 3c to 263 on moderate turnover.
Vector's ceo Mark Franklin is to resign, following a cfo and three directors in recent months, but ABN Amro Craigs broker Peter Sigley said investors were more focussed on Vector's solid operational performance.
"It's more a reflection of the nature of the assets rather than the individual."
Mr Sigley said Vector was a stable cash generator with a sound strategy, and although Mr Franklin had played a major role, the company was regarded as being in safe hands.
Among the leading stocks, Telecom was down 2c to 463 while Fletcher Building climbed 8c to 1226, Sky City rose 2c to 497, and Contact Energy lost 6c to 899.
Auckland Airport clawed back yesterday's losses, up 4c to 329, while Air NZ slipped 4c to 260.
Currency sensitive stocks Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and F&P Appliances were down despite a dip in the New Zealand dollar, down 2c to 325 and 4c to 346 respectively, and Pumpkin Patch fell 8c to 340.
Software of Excellence lost a cent to 260 after US suitor Henry Schein announced it had lifted its stake by nearly 5 per cent to 26.4 per cent.
Falls outnumbered rises 67 to 34 on 141 stocks traded.
Across the Tasman, Australian shares were down 0.5 per cent in mid-afternoon trading after an escalation in the US subprime
mortgage crisis , and a fall in mining stocks based on metal prices.
On Wall St, US stocks slid on Tuesday as credit agencies cut ratings on sub-prime related debt, undermining banking shares, and housing-related companies lowered their outlooks.
Standard & Poor's roiled financial markets when it said it may cut ratings on US$12 billion of subprime-related debt on forecasts of more delinquent and defaulted US home loans.
The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 148.27 points, or 1.09 per cent, to end at 13,501.70. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 21.73 points, or 1.42 per cent, to finish at 1,510.12. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 30.86 points, or 1.16 per cent, to close at 2,639.16.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq had their biggest one-day percentage losses since June 7, while the Dow's drop was its worst since June 22.
- NZPA