Market close: Market closes lower

Tuesday 5th August 2008

The sharemarket fell slightly today with the NZSE50 down -0.71% to end the day at 3,295.

Top stock Telecom fell 2.4% and Contact Energy gave back 1.1%, but Fletcher Building increased 1.1%.

The retail sector was mixed with Pumpkin Patch falling 2.7% and The Warehouse Group dropping 0.6% and Hallenstein Glasson closed flat. Michael Hill was different and jumped 2.5%.

Gainers included Ebos 1.8%, Sky City 0.6%, Infratil 0.9%, Air New Zealand 0.8% and Guinness Peat Group 0.7%.

Those on the downwards slide included Auckland Airport who fell 2.0%, ING Medical Properties dropped 3.5%, PGG Wrightson lost 1.8% and Freightways dipped 1.9%.

Banks fared slightly better with ANZ increasing 3.1% and Westpac rising 0.6%.

L&M Petroleum, increased 2.78% after announcing it will drill the first three wells in its South Island search for coal-seam gas, a fuel that has spurred a takeover battle in Australia.

ING Property Trust, New Zealand's fourth biggest listed property investor by value of assets, remained unchanged after it reported that it has reduced the interest cover requirement under its banking facilities with ANZ National Bank.

Resource stocks slipped after commodities including oil and gold declined overnight, dragging the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index down 67.3 points, or 1.4%, 4820.4 after earlier hitting a 31-month low of 4758.5. The broader All Ordinaries shed 75.6 points, or 1.52% to 4882.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 42.17, or 0.37%, to 11,284.15. The Dow had been down more than 100 points in early trading after US equities fell on worries about accelerating inflation.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 11.30, or 0.9%, to 1,249.01, and the Nasdaq composite index declined 25.40, or 1.1%, to 2,285.56.

NZ Top 50	3,295.681	-23.538 (-0.71%)
ASX 200	4,820.400	-67.300 (-1.38%)
Dow	11,284.15	-42.17 (-0.37%)
Nasdaq	2,285.56	-25.40 (-1.10%)
FTSE 100	5,320.20	-34.50 (-0.64%)

NZX TOP 50
As at: 5/08/2008 5:34pm
CODE	LAST	+/-
AIA	1.92	-0.04
AIR	1.25	+0.01
AMP	7.90	-0.10
ANZ	21.80	+0.66
APN	4.02	0.00
APT	1.05	-0.02
CAV	2.40	0.00
CEN	8.36	-0.09
EBO	4.60	+0.08
FBU	6.35	+0.07
FPA	1.98	+0.04
FPH	2.78	-0.08
FRE	3.09	-0.06
GFF	1.68	-0.04
GMT	1.11	-0.01
GPG	1.43	+0.01
HLG	2.85	0.00
IFT	2.19	+0.02
IMP	1.12	-0.04
ING	0.80	0.00
KIP	1.10	0.00
LNN	11.17	-0.15
MFT	6.89	0.00
MHI	0.81	+0.02
MVN	1.60	0.00
NPX	5.80	+0.25
NZO	1.57	-0.08
NZR	6.80	+0.05
NZS	1.82	0.00
NZX	7.72	0.00
PFI	1.15	0.00
PGW	2.72	-0.05
POT	6.55	+0.05
PPL	1.45	-0.04
PRC	1.97	-0.08
RAK	2.56	+0.01
RYM	1.66	+0.01
SAN	5.38	-0.02
SKC	3.49	+0.02
SKL	0.92	+0.01
SKT	4.67	+0.01
STU	3.13	-0.02
TEL	3.67	-0.09
THL	1.38	+0.01
TLS	5.70	-0.12
TPW	7.70	-0.05
TWR	2.07	0.00
VCT	2.29	+0.01
WBC	27.00	+0.15
WHS	3.40	-0.02

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