NZ shares end lower

The New Zealand sharemarket ended down but recovered from its lows today as Asian markets took heart from a steadier Chinese market.

The benchmark NZX-50 index closed down 13.323 points, or 0.43 per cent, at 3084.68.

Turnover was worth $160.1 million, of which $75m was in Telecom shares. There were 37 rises and 45 falls among the 118 stocks traded.

"The market is weaker because of the US market and partially because of China yesterday," said Stephen Wright at ASB Securities.

"We went down 30 odd points but have picked up as we've seen the Asian markets have been slightly positive," he said.

There were worries early on that the Chinese market could have another bad day after a 7 per cent fall yesterday but in the New Zealand time zone it steadied and posted modest gains.

There was little local corporate news with the June 30 balance date reporting season now over.

Telecom fell 6c to $2.69 and Fletcher Building fell 12c to $7.74.

News that the former 42 Below investors had bought a near 20 per cent stake in Dorchester Pacific created interest but the stock is thinly traded. It rose 3.7c to 10 today, which is above the 5.6c the new investors paid.

Pyne Gould Corp fell 6c to $1.36 and had to respond to a price query from NZX Regulation today about recent strength in its price.

Freightways fell 4c to $2.97 and said it will compete vigorously with new entrant in the express parcel market Toll IPEC. Mainfreight fell 5c to $5.05.

Cavalier fell 4c to $2.51, APN News fell 10c to $2.25, Nuplex fell 8c to $2.40.

NZ Farming Systems fell 1c to 41, Methven fell 6c to $1.54 and Steel and Tube fell 7c to $3.43. Port of Tauranga fell 9c to $6.51 and SkyCity fell 5c to $3.21.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare rose 8c to $3.33, Auckland Airport rose 3c to $1.76 and Hellaby rose 5c to $1.40. Hallenstein Glasson rose 6c to $2.86.

In the United States, stocks fell as concerns about the global economy's health weighed on Wall Street following the sell-off in Chinese equities.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell nearly 7 per cent to a three-month low on Monday on fears that China's government is trying to moderate economic growth and choke off speculation in its stock market by tightening bank lending.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.5 per cent to end at 9496.28, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index shed 0.8 per cent to 1020.62, and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 1 per cent to close at 2009.06.

- NZPA