NZ sharemarket lower in early trade

NZPA

Monday 1st August 2011

The New Zealand sharemarket was lower in early trading as investors waited to see whether politicians in the United States could agree to a deal that would raise the US government debt limit.

As the stock exchange opened for the week in this country, there were suggestions out of Washington that the two sides were "very close" to agreement on a two-step debt-ceiling deal.

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was down 5.69 points to 3389.94, having edged down 1.2 points on Friday after a rally disintegrated when progress faltered on the US debt reduction debacle.

Prominent early losers on the market today included the dual-listed banks, with Westpac losing 55c to 2579 and ANZ down 34c to 2616.

NZ Refining Co lost 9c to 341 but on low volume, while Contact Energy fell 2c to 515, Nuplex was down 3c to 271, Infratil dropped 2c to 178, Steel & Tube lost 2c to 248, and Telecom slipped 0.5c to 262.

Fletcher Building was a main early gainer, adding 3c to 816, with Diligent Board Member Services also up 3c, to 135, Comvita up 2c to 175, and Metlifecare adding 5c to 210.

In the US, Friday was the end of the sharemarket's worst week in a year as investors become increasingly worried that time was running out for a debt limit agreement.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.8 percent at 12,143.24, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 0.7 percent at 1292.28, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.4 percent at 2756.38.

Comments from our readers

No comments yet