Market close: Shares close over 2% lower

Tuesday 16th September 2008

The sharemarket plunged today with the NZSE50 down -2.79% to end the day at 3,227.

Top stock Telecom lost 4.4%, Contact Energy dropped 2.3%, and Fletcher Building retraced 3.9%.

In the retail sector, Michael Hill dropped 4.7%, Hallenstein Glasson lost 3.4%, Pumpkin Patch dipped 2.0% and The Warehouse Group was down 1.5%.

Among the losers were Heritage Gold down 11.54%, Postie Plus Group down 10.71%, AMP down 10.27%, Turners Auctions down 10.26% and Renaissance Corporation down 8.93%.

The financial sector was weaker today with ANZ dropping 3.6%, and Westpac down 2.4%.

Gains today included Mowbray Collectables up 44%, Dominion Finance up 20%, L & M Petroleum up 10.5%, Auckland International Airport up 1.0% and ING Medical Properties Trust gained 0.88%.

Plus SMS Holdings, whose CRE8 subsidiary provides mobile entertainment and connectivity services, said chief executive Chris Tiensch and chief financial officer Les Coates resigned. The shares fell 47% today.

Restaurant Brands NZ, which holds the local franchise for KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks, declined 1.54% after saying it lifted sales at its chicken outlets by 4.4% after sprucing up the stores and widening the menu.

At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was 66.9 points, or 1.39%, lower at 4750.8

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled below 11,000 with a loss of 504.48 points, or 4.42%, to 10,917.51. The Nasdaq composite plummeted 81.36 points, 3.60%, to 2,179.91 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 59 points, or 4.71%, to 1,192.70.

NZ Top 50	3,227.304	-92.598 (-2.79%)
ASX 200	4,750.800	-66.900 (-1.39%)
Dow	10,917.51	-504.48 (-4.42%)
Nasdaq	2,179.91	-81.36 (-3.60%)
FTSE 100	5,204.20	-212.50 (-3.92%)

AIA	2.02	+0.02
AIR	1.04	-0.04
AMP	8.21	-0.94
ANZ	19.60	-0.74
APN	3.99	0.00
APT	1.07	-0.02
CAV	2.80	-0.16
CEN	8.70	-0.20
EBO	4.60	-0.15
FBU	7.07	-0.29
FPA	1.72	-0.05
FPH	3.08	-0.08
FRE	3.26	-0.09
GFF	1.72	-0.03
GMT	1.18	0.00
GPG	1.23	-0.04
HLG	2.86	-0.10
IFT	2.08	-0.07
IMP	1.15	+0.01
ING	0.70	-0.03
KIP	1.17	-0.01
LNN	10.90	0.00
MFT	6.90	-0.15
MHI	0.82	-0.04
MVN	1.63	-0.03
NPX	6.21	-0.18
NZO	1.45	-0.07
NZR	6.60	-0.06
NZS	1.47	-0.03
NZX	6.74	-0.10
PFI	1.16	0.00
PGW	2.25	-0.20
POT	6.75	-0.15
PPL	1.49	-0.03
PRC	1.63	-0.12
RAK	2.68	-0.07
RYM	1.78	-0.14
SAN	5.60	-0.25
SKC	3.57	-0.08
SKL	0.99	0.00
SKT	4.50	-0.07
STU	3.38	-0.13
TEL	2.80	-0.13
THL	1.30	-0.10
TLS	5.04	-0.14
TPW	8.20	-0.05
TWR	1.98	-0.12
VCT	2.19	-0.04
WBC	27.45	-0.68
WHS	3.25	-0.05

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