Sharemarket slides 1%, Fletcher Building hits 2-1/2 yr low

By NZPA

Thursday 12th June 2008

Fletcher Building slid to a more than two-year low today, and the sharemarket capitulated to weakness across the Tasman and on other markets.

With markets down more than 2% in Australia and Japan, the NZSX-50 benchmark index closed down 1.4%, or 48.2 points, at 3439.2. Turnover totalled $140.3 million.

"Investor confidence in markets remains a problem. That's rolled over into New Zealand today for sure," said Nigel Scott of ABN Amro Craigs.

"The building sectors globally have been really hit quite hard, and that's obviously come into the likes of FBU (Fletcher Building)."

Third-ranked Fletcher Building lost 14c, or nearly 2%, to $7.00, well below its record high of $13.10 last July.

Real estate statistics yesterday showed the housing market was still depressed, and confidence has also ebbed out of housing markets in Australia, the United States and Britain.

Top stock Telecom was down 7c at $3.73, Contact Energy lost 10c to $8.56, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 8c at $2.35, F&P Appliances was also down 8c, at $2.10, and Sky City fell 9c to $3.49.

Auckland International Airport was alone among top-10 stocks in gaining ground, up 2c at 2.11.

PGG Wrightson, which today announced the purchase of 51% of a rural servicing business in Uruguay, retreated from an earlier record high to close down 6c at $2.69. Its offshoot NZ Farming Systems Uruguay was down 5c at $1.84.

The country's largest electricity and gas distributor, Vector, lost a cent to $2.06 ahead of a shareholder vote on the sale of its Wellington electricity network for $785m.

The few top-50 stocks to rise, aside from Auckland Airport, were NZX, up 2c at $8.27, ING Medical Properties, up a cent at $1.15, Property for Industry, up a cent at $1.23, Sanford, 3c higher at $5.22, Steel & Tube, up 20c at $2.85, and Lion Nathan, up 11c at $11.22.

Among stocks to fall, Mainfreight was down 13c at $7.20, Freightways lost 5c to $3.23, Hellaby Holdings fell 9c to $1.56, Goodman Fielder lost 9c to $1.91, and Tower fell 6c to $2.16.

"Markets just don't seem to be in a mode to bounce out of the low days -- they might go quiet, but they're not bouncing like they have been," Scott said.

Among dual-listed stocks, ANZ shed 70c to $24.80, Westpac lost 35c to $26.80, and AMP fell 20c to $9.00.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 2.4% at 5337, with financial sector companies declining on credit-related concerns.

Wall Street provided another negative lead earlier today, with the three key US indexes losing around 2%, as the latest spike in crude oil prices undermined sentiment in a market already worried about inflation and troubles in the finance sector.

Comments from our readers

No comments yet