KEY POINTS:
Market leader Telecom led the sharemarket slightly lower today in quiet action.
Wall Street was again a negative influence although the blue chip Dow Jones index pared 200-point losses to around 45 points by the close.
The NZSX-50 benchmark index was down 11 points to 3574 at 10.20am on light turnover.
Telecom, hovering near 15-year lows, was down 4c to 387.
Auckland Airport (AIA) continued its revival. Yesterday's morning the stock was trashed 49c lower after the Government tightened foreign ownership rules that looked to shut out the Canadian Pension Plan bid for 40 per cent.
However, the stock recovered to be only 24c down after the Canadians said they thought they could still succeed and today AIA was up 3c to 227.
No 2 stock Fletcher Building was down 9c to 970 while No 3 Contact Energy was up 1c to 806.
Finance company Dorchester Pacific plunged 13c, or 16.5 per cent, to 66c. The company late last month downgraded its profit guidance, by up to half, citing reduced lending volumes, lower fee income and increased provisioning for its finance company.
Goodman Fielder continued its poor run, losing 7c to 212.
Infratil was down 5c to 230 and Rakon was up 2c to 256.
Postie Plus, which yesterday reported second quarter sales picked up but at reduced margins in difficult conditions, rose 2c to 65c.
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In the US, the Dow and S&P 500 ended down but well off their lows. Late-day talk that a bailout of bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc was imminent eased some concerns about the financial sector.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 45.10 points, or 0.37 per cent, to end unofficially at 12,213.80. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 4.59 points, or 0.34 per cent, to finish unofficially at 1326.75. But the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 1.68 points, or 0.07 per cent, to close unofficially at 2260.28.
- NZPA