NZ stocks: Shares fail to fire on Aussie rally and Kiwi plunge

The New Zealand sharemarket ignored a surge in Australian stocks and a plunge in the New Zealand dollar to close only slightly lower today.

The benchmark NZSX-50 gross index closed down 4.98 points at 3547.47 points -- continuing its slide from last week's fresh all time high of 3579.16, while the NZSX all capital index eased 2.92 points to 1032.29.

That was in stark contrast to Australia, where shares breached the psychological 5000 mark for the first time ever.

Even an almost one cent fall in the New Zealand dollar to 20-month lows around US62.86c failed to fire up export stocks.

"We've had our re-rating and a lot of the dual listed stocks and export stocks had a good run last week," Forsyth Barr's David Price said.

"The focus this week is on the economics with the current account and GDP data due.

"Given the headwinds that you are likely to see the market coming into...the inevitable talk of a slow down, it is a question of how far you can stretch a rubber band.

"At the moment it looks like it is certainly fraying at the edges as far as household spending and debt to income ratios."

Economists polled by Reuters expect GDP to rise by just 0.2 percent in the December quarter and 2.3 percent for the December year, while the current account is expected to swell to 8.9 percent of GDP.

Among the leading stocks, Telecom eased 3c to 537, Contact Energy lost 9c to 736, Fletcher Building dropped 2c to 856, and Auckland International Airport slipped 2c to 194.

Whiteware exporter Fisher & Paykel Appliances eased a cent to 418, while its Healthcare cousin added 2c to 395.

Forest products firm Carter Holt Harvey slipped a cent to 274 on news it will be removed from the benchmark top 50 index next Monday after Graeme Hart's Rank Group last week topped the 90 percent mark required for compulsory acquisition of remaining shares.

In the broader market, troubled carpet maker Feltex was the biggest loser, shedding 5c, or 12.5 percent, to 35c -- a fresh low -- as major shareholder Godfrey Hirst halved its stake from almost 9 percent to 4.57 percent.

Feltex posted a February half profit fall of almost 200 percent and earlier this month said the three months to March were usually the "weakest and most challenging" in the carpet industry.

Rival carpet maker Godfrey Hirst had been seen as a potential white knight for Feltex, but last month Feltex said talks on a potential merger had been terminated.

On the upside, Nuplex rose 14c to 598, Briscoe Group rose 2c to 138, and Lyttelton Port rose 4c to 219 after its directors rejected a $2.10 per share full takeover offer from majority shareholder Christchurch City Holdings Ltd.

Turnover of 44 million shares was worth $127.7 million. Falls outnumbered rises by 51 to 49 among the 145 stocks traded.

- NZPA