The sharemarket started strongly yesterday but faded in the afternoon as the Australian market weakened and an initial public offer by Synlait was pulled.
The NZX-50 index closed down 5.36 points, or 0.17 per cent, at 3107.61, after opening up 21.2 points. Turnover was $69.5 million. There were 42 rises and 34 falls among the 117 stocks traded.
Asian markets slipped as investors shrugged off upbeat US home sales data and took a rest after recent gains.
In New Zealand, there was disappointment when Canterbury dairy company Synlait pulled an IPO expected to raise $150 million.
But there was positive news from casino operator SkyCity with the announcement of the sale of its cinema business to Australian cinema operator Amalgamated Holdings. SkyCity rose as high as $3.40 on the news but ended up 3c at $3.34. Grant Williamson, director at Hamilton Hindin Greene, said the market liked its focus on its core business.
Otherwise it was relatively quiet.
Pumpkin Patch was unchanged at $1.81 after telling its annual meeting retail conditions remained subdued.
Michael Hill rose 1c to 61c and Kathmandu was unchanged at $2.15. The Warehouse rose 7c to $4.12. NZ Refining rose 14.4c to $4.55 with its shares trading ex a bonus issue from yesterday. Infratil rose 5c to $1.55.
Fletcher Building fell 6c to $7.65 and Telecom fell 2c to $2.46. Contact Energy fell 5c to $5.90 and TrustPower was unchanged at $7.45 on a day the Commerce Commission warned both companies after an investigation into possible bid-rigging.
Hellaby fell 6c to $1.54, Restaurant Brands fell 4c to $1.44, Ebos fell 10c to $5.85 and Sky TV fell 7c to $4.66. Rakon fell 1c to $1.17.
Allied Farmers rose 5c to 31c after revealing that Australian company Resimac is its new investor.
Pike River Coal rose 2c to $1.01, Steel & Tube rose 6c to $2.94 and Freightways rose 7c to $3.17. GPG rose 1c to 80c. ING Property Trust rose 1c to 76c after its interim report. TeamTalk rose 6c to $2.35.
Auckland Airport, which released October operating statistics, fell 2c to $1.83. PGG Wrightson fell 3c to 64c.
In the United States, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.29 per cent to 10,450.95, the Standard & Poor's 500 was up 1.4 per cent to 1106.24 and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 1.4 per cent to 2176.01.
- NZPA
Warehouse and NZ Refining rise on down day
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